OKAYAMA ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY WIDE-FIELD CAMERA

We present the design, expected performance, and current status of the wide field near-infrared camera (OAOWFC) now being developed at Okayama Astrophysical Observatory, NAOJ, NINS. OAOWFC is a near-infrared survey telescope whose effective aperture is 91cm. It works at Y, J, H, and $K_s$ bands and is dedicated to the survey of long period variable stars in the Galactic plane. The field of view is $0.95 {\times} 0.95 deg^2$ which is covered by one HAWAII-2 RG detector of 2048 ${\times}$ 2048 pixels with the pixel size of $18.5 {\mu}m\;{\times}\;18.5{\mu}m$, that results in the sampling pitch of 1.6 arcsec/pixel. OAOWFC can sweep the area of $840 deg^2$ every 3 weeks, attaining a limiting magnitude of 13 in $K_s$ band. It allows us to observe long period variables embedded in the Galactic plane where interstellar extinction is severe in optical.