First astronomical images with a multiplexed superconducting bolometer array

We present images taken with the first deployed astronomical instrument to use multiplexed superconducting bolometers. The Fabry-Perot Interferometer Bolometer Research Experiment (FIBRE), a broadband submillimeter spectrometer, took these images as a detector investigation at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). FIBRE's detectors are superconducting bilayer transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers read out by a SQUID multiplexer. An order-sorted Fabry-Perot provides illumination of a 16-element linear bolometer array, resulting in five orders at a spectral resolution of around 1200 covering the 350 micron atmospheric band. We present multiwavelength images of Jupiter, Venus and the high-mass star-forming region G34.3+0.2 taken with this instrument at several wavelengths in the 350 micron band, separated by approximately 8 microns. These images have validated the use of multiplexed superconducting bolometers in an astronomical application and have helped inform the design of our future instruments.