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UW-Eau Claire > Physics and Astronomy > Research > Planetary Nebulae

Near-Infrared Observations: the J, H, and K Bands

Earth's atmosphere absorbs most infrared light. A few wavelength-windows let most of the light through in a relatively reliable way, and the J, H and K filters let through only light in those windows.

Near-IR bands for ground based observations
Bandpass	Wavelength range	Wavelength
J-band	1.13 - 1.37 microns	1.2 microns
H-band	1.50 - 1.80 microns	1.6 microns
K-band	2.01 - 2.42 microns	2.2 microns

(One micron is 10,000 Angstroms)

Array Detectors for near-Infrared available only since about 1984
HgCdTe (Mercury-cadmium-telluride) or InSb (Indium Antimonide)
CCD detectors do not detect infrared