EURD Data Processing

EURD (EspectrógrafoUltravioleta extremo para la Radiación Difusa) is one of thescientific instruments on board MINISAT 01. EURD is a spectrograph withvery high sensitivity and spectral resolution ( 5 Å), designed to obtain extremeultraviolet ( 350-1100 Å) spectra of diffuse radiation.We outline the processing of EURD data, and how we obtain informationfrom these data on the scientific goals of the mission: hot interstellarmedium, neutrino decay line, nightglow emission, and early-type stars.     

EURD observations of interstellar radiation

The hot interstellar medium (ISM) has far-reaching effect upon thestructure of galaxies. Although ISM heating processes are fairly wellunderstood, after decades of study, the processes that cool the hotinterstellar medium remain obscure. The EURD spectrograph was designed tomeasure the diffuse cosmic background from 350 to 1100 Å in order tostudy the hot ISM and the mechanisms by which it sheds its energy. Wepresent the first analysis of EURD observations of the cosmic background.These EURD observations have proven to be far more sensitive than previouswork; compared to previous results, we have improved the limits to theintensity of 450 to 900 Å line emission from the ISM by one to twoorders of magnitude. Our limit to OVI 1032 Å / 1038 Å doublet of 7900ph s^-1 cm^-2 str^-1 is the lowest yet reported. The EURDlimits to line emission are less intense than predicted by a varietytheoretical models of the local ISM.     

EURD: First Year Results

EURD (Espectrógrafo Ultravioleta extremo de Radiación Difusa), one of the instruments onboard the Spanish satellite MINISAT-01, is a spectrograph specially designed to detect diffuse radiation, covering the wavelength range of 350-1100 Å, with a spectral resolution of 6-8 Å. Its main scientific objectives are the detection of the emission line spectrum from the hot phase of the interstellar medium and the spectrum of the upper atmospheric airglow. In order to reduce geocoronal noise, EURD always observes in the anti-sun direction and only when the satellite is in orbital eclipse. After more than one year of observation we have obtained the best spectrum of the upper atmospheric nightglow in this wavelength range, the spectrum of 15 OB stars and the spectrum of the full Moon throughout the year. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spectrophotometric catalog of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute in the ultraviolet,visual and near infrared

Spectophotometric catalog of the Sternberg Astronomical Institute is described briefly. The catalog includes energy distribution data for 900 stars in the range 3200–7600Å and 250 stars in the range 3200–7600Å with 50Å step. The main scientific results obtained on the basis of the catalog are presented.     

Spectrum of the Extreme Ultraviolet Nightglow as Measured by EURD

After 2 years of operation onboard the Spanish satellite MINISAT, EURDhas achieved an unprecedented success in the observation of the terrestrialnightglow in the EUV, covering a range of 350-1100 Å EURD hasprovided a total of more than 543 hours ofintegration in the long wavelength spectrometer and more than898 hours in the short wavelength one, allowing the achievement of the most detailed atlas of the terrestrial EUV nightglow ever obtained. We present here the spectra obtained, together with the identification of the lines, some of themdetected for the first time in the nightglow. These spectrarepresent an improvement in sensitivity of several orders of magnitude with respect to previous observations. It has beenpossible, for the first time, to identify the complete Lymanseries of atomic hydrogen, resolving up to Lyman-. It hasalso been possible to identify the helium Lyman- line at 537 Å andto detect other lines of the blended Lyman series of helium, at 515 and522 Å. The spectra clearly show the presenceof the OII lines at 617, 644, 673, and 718 Å, previouslyobserved in the dayglow but seen here for the first time in thenightglow. In addition to the recombination continuum of the atomicoxygen at 911 Å, two features of OI have been detected in thenightglow: the 3s ³D_o transition at 989 Å, previouslyobserved by Chakrabarti (1984) and the 2p³4s³S^o transition at 1040 Å, partially overlapped with Lyman , but clearly distinguishable from it. This feature has been seen for the first timein the terrestrial nightglow. The radiative recombination continuum of atomic oxygen at 911 Å, that wasabsent in the observations of the first year of operation of EURD,is now clearly visible. The reasons of the absence of the OIfeature during the first year of operation are still unknown.Anderson et al. (1976) also noticed a strong variation with time of this 911 Å emission.     

The Lyot-coronagraph with 53 cm objective

The new Lyot-coronagraph with 53 cm objective is described. The coronagraph has a grating spectrograph. The solar disk image on the slit of the spectrograph is 12.6 cm. The dispersion is 1 Å/mm in the second order. The coronagraph is situated at the Kislovodsk Station of Pulkovo Observatory, 2050 m above sea level.     

The abundance of cadmium in the solar atmosphere

The solar spectrum at 3261 Å has been studied using the spectrograph at the Oslo Solar Observatory. From analysis of this wavelength region and recent results at 5085 Å, a solar cadmium abundance log N _Cd = 1.86 ± 0.15 is obtained.     

Affordable échelle spectroscopy with a 60 cm telescope

A new fiber‐fed spectrograph was installed at the 60 cm telescope of the Stará Lesná Observatory. The article presents tests of its performance (spectral resolution, signal‐to‐noise ratio, radial‐velocity stability) and reports observations of selected variable stars and exoplanet host stars. First test observations show that the spectrograph is an ideal tool to observe bright eclipsing and spectroscopic binaries but also symbiotic and nova‐like stars. The radial‐velocity stability (60–80 m s^–1) is sufficient to study spectroscopic binaries and to detect easily the orbital motion of hot‐Jupiter extrasolar planets around bright stars. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Infrared Imaging Solar Spectrograph At Purple Mountain Observatory

Since 1986, we have made some improvements to the multichannel solar spectrograph at Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO) step by step, and now we have developed and added to it a multichannel infrared imaging solar spectrograph. The original spectrograph can be used to observe simultaneously solar activity at 9 wave bands including Caii H and K line, Mgi b line, Hei D3 line and H through H. The newly developed infrared imaging spectrograph can work in three wavelengths, i.e., Hei 10830 Å, Caii 8542 Å, and H. We replaced plates in the original system with CCDs and placed an image reducer before each CCD in order to match the CCD pixel size. The dispersions for Hei 10830 Å, Caii 8542 Å, and H of the new imaging solar spectrograph are 0.0693 Å, 0.0767 Å, and 0.0754 Å per CCD pixel respectively, and each vertical CCD pixel represents 0.34 arc sec of solar disk. We can obtain the line-center and off-band intensities of the three lines and the intensities of continua adjacent to these lines through the new instrument. We can also acquire velocity maps and line profiles. Therefore, it is specially suitable for two-dimensional (2D) spectroscopic observations of solar flares and active regions. We carry out scanning observation by rotating the second mirror of the coelostat system. In this paper, we introduce the improvements we made and the new imaging solar spectrograph. Some observation results are also presented in this article.     

Absolute stellar photometry in the region 1900–3000 Å

Twin channel stellar photometers were flown in two sounding rockets in May 1967 and produced a number of absolute photoelectric measurements in the region 2000–3000 Å.The observations were made at wavelengths centred on 2150 Å and 2550 Å with passbands of 300 Å on 28 early-type stars in the range of spectral types B0-B9.5 down to a limiting visual magnitude of 4.8.A comparison of the experimental data with other observations and with the theoretically derived fluxes of Mihalas for unblanketed models, indicates a satisfactory agreement within the limits of the known photometric accuracies, although there are significant departures for those stars exhibiting emission characteristics and for the magnetic variable ₂ Canum Venaticorum.     

Spectrophotometric study of Be stars

A large sample of Be stars has been studied spectrophotometrically in the visible region. The continuum energy distribution data for 23 Be stars included in the list of Harmanecet al. (1983) are presented and discussed in the wavelength range 3200 Å–8000 Å. For 15 Be stars the observations reported in the present work are new. By comparing the observed continua with models, the effective temperatures of these stars have been estimated. It is found that, in general, Be stars have lower effective temperature than the corresponding normal B stars. The present study shows that the early-Be stars (B0–B5) possess near-ultraviolet and near-infrared excess emissions more frequently than the late-Be stars (B5–B9). The seven new Be stars are detected to show pole-on characteristics.     

Far-ultraviolet photometry of orion stars

Far-ultraviolet photometric data for early type stars in Orion, in the 1050–1180 and 1230–1350 Å wavelength ranges, were obtained in an Aerobee rocket flight on 30 January 1969. The results corrected for interstellar extinction, appear in good agreement with model atmospheres in the case of main-sequence stars. Bright giant and supergiant stars, however, appear to be up to one magnitude fainter than main-sequence stars of similar spectral class in the 1050–1180 Å range.The present results indicate that the detectors used in a previous flight were lower in sensitivity than was thought, so the results from that flight have been corrected using the present data for stars in common with the previous flight.The far-ultraviolet extinction law for Orionis is shown to be abnormal, with the observed extinction far less than predicted on the basis of ultraviolet extinction measurements of other stars, and the observedE(B-V).     

FIASCO: A new spectrograph at the University Observatory Jena

A new spectrograph (FIASCO) is in operation at the 0.9 m telescope of the University Observatory Jena. This article describes the characterization of the instrument and reports its first astronomical observations, among those lithium (6708 Å) detection in the atmosphere of young stars, and the simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic monitoring of variable stars (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

High precision radial velocities of southern solar-type stars by cross-correlation

A system for obtaining high-precision radial velocities of solar-type stars by spectral cross-correlation has been established at the Mt John University Observatory. The use of a fibre-feed between the telescope and échelle spectrograph has enabled a stability such that we can achieve a precision of better than 50 m s^–1.A programme of radial-velocity observations of 29 southern solar-type stars—of which two are IAU radial velocity standard stars—is under way with the prime objective being a search for low-mass companions to the stars. Ten further IAU radial-velocity standard stars are also being monitored.     

An EUV imaging spectrograph for high-resolution observations of the solar corona

An extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging spectrograph for the wavelength range from 235 to 450 Å has been developed and used for high resolution observations of the Sun. The instrument incorporates a glancing incidence Wolter Type II Telescope and a near-normal incidence toroidal grating spectrograph to achieve near-stigmatic performance over this spectral range. The design of the spectrograph entrance aperture enables both stigmatic spectra with spectral resolution adequate to observe emission line profiles and spectroheliograms of restricted portions of the Sun to be obtained concurrently. In this paper we describe the design and performance of the instrument and provide an overview of results obtained during a sounding rocket flight on May 5, 1989.     

High resolution spectroscopy in the far UV: Observations of the interstellar medium by IMAPS on ORFEUS-SPAS

The Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrograph (IMAPS) is an objectivegrating, echelle spectrograph built to observe the spectra of bright, hot stars over the spectral region 950–1150Å, below the wavelength coverage of HST. This instrument has a high wavelength resolving power, making it especially well suited for studies of interstellar absorption lines. Following a series of sounding rocket flights in the 1980's, IMAPS flew on its first Shuttle-launched orbital mission in September 1993, as a partner in the ORFEUS-SPAS program sponsored by the US and German Space Agencies, NASA and DARA.On ORFEUS-SPAS, IMAPS spent one day of orbital time observing the spectra of 10 O- and early B-type stars. In addition to outlining how IMAPS works, we document some special problems that had an influence on the data, and we explain the specific steps in data reduction that were employed to overcome them. This discussion serves as a basic source of information for people who may use archival data from this flight, as well as those who are interested in some specific properties of the data that will be presented in forthcoming research papers.IMAPS is scheduled to fly once again on ORFEUS-SPAS in late 1996. On this flight, 50% of the observing time available for IMAPS and two other spectrographs on the mission will be available to guest observers.     

A far ultraviolet rocket-borne spectrograph

A sensitive spectrograph for rocket observations of celestial objects in the 910–1250Å band is described. The instrument incorporates a variety of new technologies that allow unprecedented sensitivity in this difficult, but scientifically rewarding, band. It includes a diamond-turned Wolter-Schwarzschild Type II telescope, a conventional Rowland Circle spectrograph, and resistive anode/micro-channel plate detectors. It has been launched twice from Woomera, Australia where it performed the only observations of SN1987a in its bandpass and discovered a new feature in the diffuse ultraviolet background.     

High Resolution Spectral Atlas of Telluric Lines

Before reaching our telescopes, stellar radiation passes through Earth's atmosphere. This interaction causes the formation of a number of telluric lines in registered stellar spectra. In this paper an atlas of atmospheric lines is reported. Observations have been carried out at the 91 cm cassegrain telescope of the M. G. Fracastoro observing station of the Catania Astrophysical Observatory equipped with a Czerney-Turner echelle spectrograph. The spectral region examined is between 6800 Å and 7800 Å. The possibility of using this atlas either to recognize telluric lines or as a wavelength calibration source is also discussed.     

Spectrophotometric investigation of Be stars

The continuum energy distribution data of seven Be and five normal B stars have been presented in the wavelength range 3200–8000 Å. Empirical effective temperatures of these stars have been derived by comparing the observed continuum energy distributions with the computed energy distributions given by Kurucz (1979). The effective temperatures of all observed be stars except KX And found here are in fair agreement with those of normal B stars. The Be stars KY And, EW Lac, and LQ And show normal continuum energy distributions over the whole observed wavelength range. The Be stars ES Vul and 6 Cyg show moderate near-infrared excess emission longward of 6000 Å.o And shows Balmer jump slightly in absorption and 6 Cyg shows slightly in emission. The variable nature of the Be stars has been discussed.The Be star KX And shows a peculiar type of continuum energy distribution. The continuum energy distribution of KX And has been discussed in relation to its binary nature.No excess or deficiency in the mean flux of normal B stars was detected.     

Mesure des Raies de [Sii] dans Trois Nébuleuses planétaires de L'hémisphère Austral

Three southern planetary nebulae (NGC 2818, He 2-130, and NGC 3132) have been observed with the IDS (Image Dessector Scanner) combined with the Boller and Chivens spectrograph mounted at the Cassegrain focus of the 1.52 m telescope of the ESO in Chile. The spectrograph dispersion was 60 Å mm^–1 in the spectral range 6170–7298 Å. The slit aperture was 4×4. Spectra were obtained from an array of positions across each nebula along the E-W direction and/or N-S direction. The data reduction followed the standard IHAP routines for IDS observations. In order to derive electron density, only the [Sii] lines (6617 Å–6731 Å) are given in this paper. The results are in agreement with a shell structure for the observed nebulae.

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Toutes les observations ont été faites à l'Observatoire européen Austral (ESO) au Chili.