MANIAC: a new mid- and near-infrared array camera

We present the optical, mechanical and electronical design of MANIAC, the Mid-And Near-Infrared Array Camera, together with some recent astronomical results. MANIAC is a two-channel instrument that offers observations from 1 to 5 mu m and from 8 to 28 mu m at the same time. The advantages of the purely reflective optical design of MANIAC are discussed as well as the options that are provided by simultaneous observations id the two regimes. The construction of MANIAC will be completed in a modular way, each of the five phases offering a fully operational instrument. Here, we report on completion of the first phase, a mid-infrared camera based pn a Rockwell 128x128 pixel Si:As detector. With a pixel scale of about 0.2 '', the MANIAC mid-infrared channel offers diffraction-limited imaging in the N and Q bands at a 4m-class telescope and a field of view of 26 '' x 26 ''. The achieved sensitivity is very close to the background limit under all observational modes. We also discuss the scientific importance of high-resolution mid-infrared observations, describe the observing methods and characterize the performance of the detector array.