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ULTRACAM will see first light on the WHT in February 2002, ahead
of schedule (30 months from award of grant to first
light) and within budget
(£292 000).
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ULTRACAM is a standalone instrument (and hence requires no software/electronics interfacing to the telescope) and has no moving parts. Its design
incorporates the very latest in CCD detector and data acquisition hardware/software technology.
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High time resolution astrophysics is the new frontier - a virtually
unexplored region of observational parameter space. To fully exploit
this area, however, the largest aperture telescopes will be required
(in order to record sufficient photons on the faintest targets during
the shortest exposures).
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It would be a simple matter to provide a clone of ULTRACAM for the VLT
in less than 2 years for around
500 000 Euros.
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