Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer

The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) is a scientific instrument for infrared astronomy, installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), operating from 1997 to 1999, and from 2002 to 2008. Images produced by NICMOS contain data from the near-infrared part of the light spectrum.

NICMOS was conceived and designed by the NICMOS Instrument Definition Team centered at Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, USA. NICMOS is an imager and spectrometer built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. that allows the HST to observe infrared light, with wavelengths between 0.8 and 2.4 micrometers, providing imaging and slitless spectrophotometric capabilities. NICMOS contains three near-infrared detectors in three optical channels providing high (~ 0.1 arcsecond) resolution, coronagraphic and polarimetric imaging, and slitless spectroscopy in 11-, 19-, and 52-arcsecond square fields of view. Each optical channel contains a 256×256 pixel photodiode array of Hg_0.554Cd_0.446Te infrared detectors bonded to a sapphire substrate, read out in four independent 128×128 quadrants.

NICMOS has been largely replaced by the infrared channel of Wide Field Camera 3 after its installation in 2009. NICMOS last worked in 2008, so WFC3 allowed NIR astronomy to continue in a powerful way, preparing the way for coming NIR-focused James Webb Space Telescope. Another telescope that has supported near-infrared astronomy is the Spitzer Space Telescope extended mission, capable of seeing deeper into the infrared than WFC3

The infrared performance of the Hubble has limitations since it was not designed with infrared performance as an objective. For example, the mirror is kept at a stable and relatively high temperature (15 °C) by heaters.

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