Parts of CTA

It is the cold part of the Observatory. It is made of four main parts;

• a superfluid helium cryostat ,
• a light-weight 85cm Ritchey-Chretien telescope ,
• an Outer Shell Group
• Multiple Instrument Chamber that contains the Science Instruments.

Cryostat

The cryostat keeps the instruments and the science payload of the spacecraft cold and enables its smooth functioning. It does so by venting helium vapors from a liquid helium tank, which can hold nearly 360 litres of helium. It houses the following instruments;

• Vacuum shell
• Inner and middle vapor cooled shields,
• Helium tank
• The fluid management system.

Telescope

This telescope is designed to function in low temperatures. It is made of beryllium, which is a strong material, used to make infrared telescopes.

Outer Shell

The outer shell is made of dust cover outer shield (cooled by helium vapor), thermal shields (which block radiation from space), and the solar panels. It surrounds the cryostat and the telescope.

The shell prevents heat reaching from the telescope and instruments by radiating it into space.

It is made of lightweight, aluminum honeycomb sandwich construction. The anti-sun side is painted black for efficient thermal radiation to cold space. The sun-side is shiny for efficient rejection of heat from the sun and solar panels.

Multiple Instrument Chamber

This part is contains three science instruments,

• IRAC - it is a four-channel camera that enables imaging capabilities at near and mid- infrared wavelengths.
• IRS- this instrument provides both high and low-resolution spectroscopy at mid- infrared wavelengths.
• MIPS- it is that instrument, which will fly on the Observatory and will provide imaging and limited spectroscopic data at far- infrared wavelengths.