A New Camera for Pan-STARRS

The Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) telescopes on Haleakala, Maui, Hawaii have been conducting a very successful search for Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). Each telescope has a very large digital camera. The Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs) is these cameras are Orthogonal Transfer Arrays (OTAs) that are not ideal for this search. The complex manufacturing process for OTAs resulted in cosmetic problems in some of the detectors, and a less than ideal overall fill factor of approximately 70%. We describe a proposed new camera for Pan-STARRS that uses larger modern CCDs. The proposed new camera will have higher quantum efficiency, faster readout, much better cosmetics, and a better fill factor. It will also allow longer exposures, permitting the NEO search to go deeper, which is important since the Rubin Observatory, with its larger aperture, is expected to begin operations shortly. We estimate that the proposed new camera will increase NEO discovery by Pan-STARRS by up to a factor 2. The new camera will also improve discovery of interstellar objects, and may facilitate discovery of small impacting objects immediately before impact.