Refurbishment and Cryocooler Upgrade of the CPAPIR Wide-Field Near-Infrared Camera: Design, Integration, and Lessons Learned
Abstract
The CAmera PAnoramique Proche Infrarouge (CPAPIR) is a wide-field near-infrared imager that has been operating at the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic (OMM) since 2004. After more than two decades of service, the instrument required a major refurbishment due to detector degradation, including the loss of one quadrant, as well as operational constraints associated with its liquid-nitrogen cooling system. To extend the instrument's lifetime and reduce maintenance requirements, the detector was replaced and the cooling system upgraded through the integration of a Sunpower CryoTel DS30 cryocooler. This paper presents the thermal and mechanical redesign of the instrument, including finite element analysis (FEA), three-dimensional CAD modeling, hardware selection, and laboratory validation. Particular attention is given to the challenges encountered during integration and testing, notably vibration mitigation and cryogenic system implementation. The resulting performance improvements and lessons learned from the upgrade are discussed. The upgraded instrument is scheduled for on-sky commissioning at the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic in summer 2026.
Versions
Related
- Community Lessons from builders of infrared multi-object spectrographs
- Evaluating KAGRA upgrade scenarios for multimessenger observations of binary neutron stars
- IceCube Upgrade status and perspectives
- Astrophysical Sensitivity Projections for the IceCube Upgrade
- The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems VIII: patchy forsterite and enstatite clouds in the atmosphere of VHS 1256 b, retrieval lessons learned and outlook to the future
BibTeX
@misc{vallee2026refurbishment,
title = {{Refurbishment and Cryocooler Upgrade of the CPAPIR Wide-Field Near-Infrared Camera: Design, Integration, and Lessons Learned}},
author = {Philippe Vallee and Jonathan St-Antoine and Lison Malo and Frederique Baron and Sylvie F Beaulieu and Rene Doyon and Etienne Artigau and Fidele Robichaud},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.20555},
eprint = {2610.20555},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20555},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Refurbishment and Cryocooler Upgrade of the CPAPIR Wide-Field Near-Infrared Camera: Design, Integration, and Lessons Learned
AU - Philippe Vallee
AU - Jonathan St-Antoine
AU - Lison Malo
AU - Frederique Baron
AU - Sylvie F Beaulieu
AU - Rene Doyon
AU - Etienne Artigau
AU - Fidele Robichaud
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.20555
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20555
AB - The CAmera PAnoramique Proche Infrarouge (CPAPIR) is a wide-field near-infrared imager that has been operating at the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic (OMM) since 2004. After more than two decades of service, the instrument required a major refurbishment due to detector degradation, including the loss of one quadrant, as well as operational constraints associated with its liquid-nitrogen cooling system. To extend the instrument's lifetime and reduce maintenance requirements, the detector was replaced and the cooling system upgraded through the integration of a Sunpower CryoTel DS30 cryocooler. This paper presents the thermal and mechanical redesign of the instrument, including finite element analysis (FEA), three-dimensional CAD modeling, hardware selection, and laboratory validation. Particular attention is given to the challenges encountered during integration and testing, notably vibration mitigation and cryogenic system implementation. The resulting performance improvements and lessons learned from the upgrade are discussed. The upgraded instrument is scheduled for on-sky commissioning at the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic in summer 2026.
ER -