9315904 Garden This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) will fund (i) initial laboratory characterization tests of a recently developed 128 x 128 mid-infrared (4 to 30 microns) detector array, and (ii) the construction of a small test dewar/camera to permit measurements of the array's performance on real astronomical sources using the Lick 1-m telescope. When mounted on the 1-m telescope, the prototype camera is expected to achieve 2 arcsec resolution images over a 16 arcmin2 field with a signal-to-noise of 10 on a 30 mJy (7.8 mag) source in a 1 hour integration at 10 microns through a 1 micron bandwidth filter. The astronomical capabilities of the new detector array will be demonstrated by using it to conduct one of the most sensitive surveys yet made of the mid-infrared continuum emission from young star-forming molecular clouds, such as Rho Oph and Orion. This project is particularly suited to the SGER program as the proposed work is at the forefront of contemporary detector array development, yet is relatively inexpensive, and can be performed in the course of only one year. The knowledge and experience to be gained during both the initial laboratory characterization and subsequent observing phases of the proposed program will be of immense value for the development of future mid-infrared imaging systems for the new generation of very-large telescopes, such as the recently constructed Keck and the soon-to-be-built Gemini observatories. Furthermore, a large portion of the requested funds will be used to employ a graduate student who will assist with the testing of the array and the development of the prototype camera. Finally, if this project is funded, and we succeed in demonstrating the power of the new array through observations with the Lick 1-m telescope, we probably stand a good chance of being awarded a more substantial NSF grant next year to build a more sophisticated camera, based on a larger 256 x 256 mid-infrared array. ***
