Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope of the Swift MIDEX mission

Peter W. A. Roming; Leisa K. Townsley; John A. Nousek; Peter F. Altimore; Traci Case; Sally D. Hunsberger; Scott Koch; Keith O. Mason; Mary J. Carter; Mark S. Cropper; Barry K. Hancock; Howard E. Huckle; Tom E. Kennedy; Michael K. McLelland; Kelly Smith; Ronnie Killough; Cheng Ho

doi:10.1117/12.409161

13 December 2000 Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope of the Swift MIDEX mission

Peter W. A. Roming, Leisa K. Townsley, John A. Nousek, Peter F. Altimore, Traci Case, Sally D. Hunsberger, Scott Koch, Keith O. Mason, Mary J. Carter, Mark S. Cropper, Barry K. Hancock, Howard E. Huckle, Tom E. Kennedy, Michael K. McLelland, Kelly Smith, Ronnie Killough, Cheng Ho

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4140, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XI; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.409161
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2000, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The Swift MIDEX mission is the first-of-its-kind observatory for multi-wavelength transient astronomy. The goal of the mission is to ascertain the origin of gamma-ray bursts and to utilize these bursts to probe the early universe. The Ultra- Violet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) is one of three telescopes flying aboard Swift. The UVOT is a working 'copy' of the Optical Monitor on the X-ray Multi-mirror Mission (XMM- Newton). It is a Ritchey-Chretien telescope with microchannel plate intensified charged-coupled devices (MICs) that provide sub-arcsecond imaging. These MICs are photon counting devices, capable of detecting very low signal levels. When flown above the atmosphere, the UVOT will have the equivalent sensitivity of a 4 m telescope on the ground, reaching a limiting magnitude of 24 for a 1000 second observation in the white light filter. A rotating filter wheel contains sensitive photometric broadband UV and visual filters for determining photometric redshifts. The filter wheel also contains UV and visual grisms for performing low-resolution spectroscopy.

Citation Download Citation

Peter W. A. Roming, Leisa K. Townsley, John A. Nousek, Peter F. Altimore, Traci Case, Sally D. Hunsberger, Scott Koch, Keith O. Mason, Mary J. Carter, Mark S. Cropper, Barry K. Hancock, Howard E. Huckle, Tom E. Kennedy, Michael K. McLelland, Kelly Smith, Ronnie Killough, and Cheng Ho "Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope of the Swift MIDEX mission", Proc. SPIE 4140, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XI, (13 December 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.409161

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available