The Lunar Ultraviolet Cosmic Imager (LUCI) is an innovative all-spherical mirrors telescope, proposed to fly as a scientific UV imaging payload on a lunar mission in collaboration with Indian Aerospace Company-TeamIndus, Axiom Research Labs Pvt. Ltd. Observations from the Moon provide a unique opportunity to observe the sky from a stable platform far above the Earths atmosphere. LUCI will observe at a fixed elevation angle and will detect stars in the near ultraviolet (200-320 nm) to a limiting magnitude of 12 AB, with a field of view of around 0.5 degrees. The primary science goal is to search for transient sources and flag them for further study. The instrument has been assembled in the class 1000 clean room at the M.G.K Menon Laboratory for Space Sciences. Here we will describe the optomechanical assembly procedures we have carried out during the optical alignment and integration of the payload. Opto-mechanical alignment of the instrument was carried out by using alignment telescope cum autocollimator (for coarse alignment) and ZYGO interferometer (fine alignment). We will also discuss the ground calibration tests performed on the assembled telescope. The results from the ground calibration activities will help in establishing the full calibration matrix of the instrument once operational.
The Position-Sensitive Detector (PSD) on base of GaAs photocathode and microchannel plate set has been
developed. PSD consists of thick semiconductor photocathode with quantum efficiency about 48% in the range
of 4000-8000AA, two microchannel plates, and 16-electrode collector. The detector has spatial resolution of 20-30
microns for about 5 • 105 pixels, time resolution of 1 us and effective sensitivity up to 40%.
Martin Barstow, L. Binette, Noah Brosch, F.Z. Cheng, Michel Dennefeld, A.I. de Castro, H. Haubold, K.A. van der Hucht, N. Kappelmann, P. Martinez, A. Moisheev, I. Pagano, Erez Ribak, J. Sahade, B. Shustov, J.-E. Solheim, W. Wamsteker, K. Werner, Helmut Becker-Ross, Stefan Florek
The World Space Observatory is an unconventional space project proceeding via distributed studies. The present design, verified for feasibility, consists of a 1.7-meter telescope operating at the second Largangian point of the Earth-Sun system. The focal plane instruments consist of three UV spectrometers covering the spectral band from Lyman alpha to the atmospheric cutoff with R~55,000 and offering long-slit capability over the same band with R~1,000. In addition, a number of UV and optical imagers view adjacent fields to that sampled by the spectrometers. Their performance compares well with that of HST/ACS and the spectral capabilities of WSO rival those of HST/COS.
The WSO, as presently conceived, will be constructed and operated with the same distributed philosophy. This will allow as many groups and countries to participate, each contributing as much as feasible but allowing multi-national participation. Although designed originally with a conservative approach, the WSO embodies some innovative ideas and will allow a world-class mission to be realized with a moderate budget.
We propose to modify the solar collector PETAL (Photon Energy Transformation & Astrophysics Laboratory) for astronomy. The mirror is a segmented parabolic dish collector, which has a relatively poor imaging quality. The conversion can be done by either of two principal methods: (1) phasing the surface of the collector itself or significant sections thereof; (2) transforming the structure into an optical interferometer by mounting small telescopes around its rim, and using fiber optics to combine the light at a common focus.
The TAUVEX space astronomy experiment to image wide sky areas in the 140 - 280 nm spectral region is part of the SODART telescope complex on SRG, and functions as a separate scientific instrument and as a service system for the spacecraft. The experiment consists of three bore-sighted telescopes with 20 cm diameter Ritchey-Chretien optics. Each telescope is equipped with a four-position filter wheel and can select one of six UV bands in the spectral region of operation. The photon-counting, imaging detectors cover a field of view of 0 degree(s).9, with 80% of the energy from a point source within about 10 arcsec. The image is sampled at 3 arcsec intervals. The sensitivity is such that stars of 10 - 11 mag in the UV are detected in 2 sec, and in a typical SRG pointing of 5 hours stars as faint as 20 mag are detectable. TAUVEX provides off-line aspect solutions for the SODART focal plane instruments and on-line fine pointing information to the SRG attitude and control system. The experiment is constructed by El-Op, Electro-Optical Industries Ltd., and is financially supported by the Government of Israel, through the Israel Space Agency and the Ministry of Science and Arts. By mid-1994 four models of TAUVEX had been produced and supplied to the SRG integrators: size and mass models in 1992, a thermal model in early 1993 and an engineering model in spring 1994. A qualification model is being tested intensively at El-Op these days and the flight model will be ready, after testing, burn-in and calibration, by the end of 1994. TAUVEX is a light-weight, low-power, versatile UV imaging experiment with significant redundancy, which is not limited to operations on-board SRG. The system may operate on other platforms, including small satellites, if such an opportunity occurs.
The astronomical ultra-violet space telescope, TAUVEX, being developed in Israel by EL-OP Ltd., in conjunction with Tel Aviv University's Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics, has three co-aligned 20 cm diameter telescopes, each with an imaging photon-counting detector of the Wedge & Strip Anode type. The geometric and radiometric parameters of the system must be calibrated before launch in order that the image data acquired by the detector and signal processing sub-system can be converted into accurate maps of the UV sources in the sky. We describe the calibration philosophy and methodology involved in the TAUVEX system and sub-system calibration process. Also presented are the facilities and equipment specially designed and adapted for this purpose.
An astronomical UV space telescope, TAUVEX (Tel Aviv University Ultra-violet Explorer), is being built by EL-OP in conjunction with the Tel Aviv University Wise Observatory. It will be launched in 1995 on the SRG satellite to act as the optical monitor for the Danish X-Ray Telescope, SODART, and to survey the sky simultaneously in three UV wavelength bands. This paper describes the imaging aspects of the system.
The TAUVEX UV Space Telescope currently under construction by El-Op Ltd. in Israel is designed both for recording images of the sky in the UV region and to serve as the optical monitor for the SODART X-Ray Telescope being built by the Danish Space Research Institute. The two systems, together with several other experiments, will be flown on the S-R-G satellite to be launched by the CIS in 1995. TAUVEX will image a field of about 1 deg simultaneously in three spectral bands. In addition, it will record a selected object in a high-speed time-resolved mode in these bands. The concept and design of TAUVEX is described in this paper.
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