An ultraviolet imager to study bright UV sources

Joice Mathew; Ajin Prakash; Mayuresh Sarpotdar; A. G. Sreejith; Margarita Safonova; Jayant Murthy

doi:10.1117/12.2232977

18 July 2016 An ultraviolet imager to study bright UV sources

Joice Mathew, Ajin Prakash, Mayuresh Sarpotdar, A. G. Sreejith, Margarita Safonova, Jayant Murthy

Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 990532 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232977
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

We have designed and developed a compact ultraviolet imaging payload to y on a range of possible platforms such as high altitude balloon experiments, cubesats, space missions, etc. The primary science goals are to study the bright UV sources (mag < 10) and also to look for transients in the Near UV (200 - 300 nm) domain. Our first choice is to place this instrument on a spacecraft going to the Moon as part of the Indian entry into Google lunar X-Prize competition. The major constraints for the instrument are, it should be lightweight (< 2Kg), compact (length < 50cm) and cost effective. The instrument is an 80 mm diameter Cassegrain telescope with a field of view of around half a degree designated for UV imaging. In this paper we will discuss about the various science cases that can be performed by having observations with the instrument on different platforms. We will also describe the design, development and the current state of implementation of the instrument. This includes opto-mechanical and electrical design of the instrument. We have adopted an all spherical optical design which would make the system less complex to realize and a cost effective solution compared to other telescope configuration. The structural design has been chosen in such a way that it will ensure that the instrument could withstand all the launch load vibrations. An FPGA based electronics board is used for the data acquisition, processing and CCD control. We will also brie y discuss about the hardware implementation of the detector interface and algorithms for the detector readout and data processing.

Citation Download Citation

Joice Mathew, Ajin Prakash, Mayuresh Sarpotdar, A. G. Sreejith, Margarita Safonova, and Jayant Murthy "An ultraviolet imager to study bright UV sources", Proc. SPIE 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 990532 (18 July 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232977

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