CanariCam@GTC Recommisioning & Lessons Learned

CanariCam is the facility multi-mode mid-IR (8-25 um) camera on the 10-m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC) on La Palma, Spain. It was designed and built by the University of Florida (UF – PI: Charles Telesco) and provides our community with imaging, spectroscopic and unique polarimetric capabilities at, or near, the diffraction limit of the telescope. Since 2012, it had been operating in queue mode at one of the Nasmyth focal stations, until it was temporarily decommissioned in 2016. Now, following an upgrade project, started in mid-2018 as a joint effort between GTC and the UF, it has been installed and recommissioned on a different folded-Cassegrain focus. We will present an overview of the scientific capabilities and highlights of CanariCam@GTC, along with the lessons learned during its operation and recent upgrade activities, results from the technical observations, its current status, and prospects for the future, in the context of a very demanding Instrumentation Program.