The Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE) and the Study of XRBs

• Published in: A Population Explosion: The Nature & Evolution of X-ray Binaries in Diverse Environments (AIP Conference Proceedings Volume 1010) Vol. 1010; pp. 186 - 188
• Main Authors: Edwards, Michelle L, Eikenberry, Stephen S, Charcos-Llorens, Miguel, Lasso, Nestor, Julian, Jeff, Raines, S Nicholas, Packham, Christopher, Hanna, Kevin, Bandyopadhyay, Reba M, Marin-Franch, Antonio, Rodgers, J Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2008
• ISBN: 9780735405301; 0735405301
• ISSN: 0094-243X
• DOI: 10.1063/1.2945035

We report on the status of the Canarias InfraRed Camera Experiment (CIRCE), a near-infrared visitor instrument for the 10.4 meter Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). Besides functioning as a 1-2.5 micron imager with a 3.4X3.4 arcminute field-of-view and 0.10 arsecond pixels, CIRCE will have the capacity for low and moderate resolution grism spectroscopy and imaging and spectro- polarimetry. Furthermore, it will be equipped with J, H, and Ks broad-band filters and a several narrow-band filters, including He I (2.058) and Brg (2.16). We anticipate CIRCE's myriad capabilities will allow it to play a vital role in a variety of projects involving X-ray binaries including: the search for counterparts to INTEGRAL sources in the heavily obscured Galactic Plane, follow-up spectroscopy of potential HMXB and LMXB counterparts, polarimetry and monitoring of microquasar flares, and the study of extragalactic XRB environments.