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The Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) is one of three focal plane instruments in the Spitzer Space Telescope. IRAC is a four-channel camera that obtains simultaneous broad-band images at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 µm. Two nearly adjacent 5.2×5.2 arcmin fields of view in the focal plane are viewed by the four channels in pairs (3.6 and 5.8 µm; 4.5 and 8 µm). All four detector arrays in the camera are 256×256 pixels in size, with the two shorter wavelength channels using InSb and the two longer wavelength channels using Si:As IBC detectors. IRAC is a powerful survey instrument because of its high sensitivity, large field of view, and four-color imaging. This paper summarizes the in-flight scientific, technical, and operational performance of IRAC.

Prepared by the LSST Science Collaborations, with contributions from the LSST Project. PrefaceMajor advances in our understanding of the Universe over the history of astronomy have often arisen from dramatic improvements in our ability to observe the sky to greater depth, in previously unexplored wavebands, with higher precision, or with improved spatial, spectral, or temporal resolution. Aided by rapid progress in information technology, current sky surveys are again changing the way we view and study the Universe, and the next-generation instruments, and the surveys that will be made with them, will maintain this revolutionary progress. Substantial progress in the important scientific problems of the next decade (determining the nature of dark energy and dark matter, studying the evolution of galaxies and the structure of our own Milky Way, opening up the time domain to discover faint variable objects, and mapping both the inner and outer Solar System) all require wide-field repeated deep imaging of the sky in optical bands.The wide-fast-deep science requirement leads to a single wide-field telescope and camera which can repeatedly survey the sky with deep short exposures. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a dedicated telecope with an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and a field of view of 9.6 deg 2 , will make major contributions to all these scientific areas and more. It will carry out a survey of 20,000 deg 2 of the sky in six broad photometric bands, imaging each region of sky roughly 2000 times (1000 pairs of back-to-back 15-sec exposures) over a ten-year survey lifetime.The LSST project will deliver fully calibrated survey data to the United States scientific community and the public with no proprietary period. Near real-time alerts for transients will also be provided worldwide. A goal is worldwide participation in all data products. The survey will enable comprehensive exploration of the Solar System beyond the Kuiper Belt, new understanding of the structure of our Galaxy and that of the Local Group, and vast opportunities in cosmology and galaxy evolution using data for billions of distant galaxies. Since many of these science programs will involve the use of the world's largest non-proprietary database, a key goal is maximizing the usability of the data. Experience with previous surveys is that often their most exciting scientific results were unanticipated at the time that the survey was designed; we fully expect this to be the case for the LSST as well.The purpose of this Science Book is to examine and document in detail science goals, opportunities, and capabilities that will be provided by the LSST. The book addresses key questions that will be confronted by the LSST survey, and it poses new questions to be addressed by future study. It contains previously available material (including a number of White Papers submitted to the ASTRO2010 Decadal Survey) as well as new results from a year-long campaign of study and evaluation. This book does not attempt to be complete; there are many ...

The Spitzer Space Telescope was used to study the mid-infrared to far-infrared properties of NGC 300, and to compare dust emission to Halpha to elucidate the heating of the ISM and the star formation cycle at scales < 100 pc. The new data allow us to discern clear differences in the spatial distribution of 8 micron dust emission with respect to 24 micron dust and to HII regions traced by the Halpha light. The 8 micron emission highlights the rims of HII regions, and the 24 micron emission is more strongly peaked in star forming regions than at 8 microns. We confirm the existence and approximate amplitude of interstellar dust emission at 4.5 microns, detected statistically in Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) data, and conclude it arises in star forming regions. When averaging over regions larger than ~ 1 kpc, the ratio of Halpha to Aromatic Feature emission in NGC 300 is consistent with the values observed in disks of spiral galaxies. The mid-to-far-infrared spectral energy distribution of dust emission is generally consistent with pre-Spitzer models.Comment: to appear in the ApJS Spitzer special issue (September 2004

The Spitzer Deep, Wide-Field Survey (SDWFS) is a four-epoch infrared survey of 10 deg 2 in the Boötes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey using the IRAC instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope. SDWFS, a Spitzer Cycle 4 Legacy project, occupies a unique position in the area-depth survey space defined by other Spitzer surveys. The four epochs that make up SDWFS permit-for the first time-the selection of infrared-variable and high proper motion objects over a wide field on timescales of years. Because of its large survey volume, SDWFS is sensitive to galaxies out to z ∼ 3 with relatively little impact from cosmic variance for all but the richest systems. The SDWFS data sets will thus be especially useful for characterizing galaxy evolution beyond z ∼ 1.5. This paper explains the SDWFS observing strategy and data processing, presents the SDWFS mosaics and source catalogs, and discusses some early scientific findings. The publicly released, full-depth catalogs contain 6.78, 5.23, 1.20, and 0.96 × 10 5 distinct sources detected to the average 5σ , 4 -diameter, aperture-corrected limits of 19.77, 18.83, 16.50, and 15.82 Vega mag at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0 μm, respectively. The SDWFS number counts and color-color distribution are consistent with other, earlier Spitzer surveys. At the 6 minute integration time of the SDWFS IRAC imaging, > 50% of isolated Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty cm radio sources and > 80% of on-axis XBoötes sources are detected out to 8.0 μm. Finally, we present the four highest proper motion IRAC-selected sources identified from the multi-epoch imaging, two of which are likely field brown dwarfs of mid-T spectral class.