Scientific program construction principles and time allocation scheme for the World Space Observatory—Ultraviolet mission

We present scientific program construction principles and a time allocation scheme developed for the World Space Observatory—Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) mission, which is an international space observatory for observation in UV spectral range 100–300 nm. The WSO-UV consists of a 1.7 m aperture telescope with instrumentation designed to carry out high resolution spectroscopy, long-slit low resolution spectroscopy and direct sky imaging. The WSO-UV Ground Segment is under development by Spain and Russia. They will coordinate the Mission and Science Operations and provide the satellite tracking stations for the project.     

WSO-UV progress and expectations

The World Space Observatory Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) is the space mission that will grant access to the ultraviolet (UV) range in the post Hubble epoch. WSO-UV is equipped with instrumentation for imaging and spectroscopy and it is fully devoted to UV astronomy. In this article, we outline the WSO-UV mission model and present the current status of the project.     

Science issues of the “Spektr-UF” project

The “Spektr-UF” project (“World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet” (WSO-UV)) will be the largest space observatory for observations in the UV band. In this paper we briefly outline the key science issues that the WSO-UV will address during its lifetime with the help of its instrumentation: spectrographs and a field camera unit. Of special interest are early Universe physics (reionization and search for baryonic matter), star formation, chemical evolution of galaxies, astrophysical accretion processes, stellar atmosphere physics, and planetary atmosphere studies.     

The Imaging and Slitless Spectroscopy Instrument for Surveys (ISSIS): expected radiometric performance,operation modes and data handling

ISSIS is the instrument for imaging and slitless spectroscopy on-board WSO-UV. In this article, a detailed comparison between ISSIS expected radiometric performance and other ultraviolet instruments is shown. In addition, we present preliminary information on the performance verification tests and on the foreseen procedures for in-flight operation and data handling.     

World space observatory-ultraviolet among UV missions of the coming years

Continuous access to the UV domain has been considered of importance to astrophysicists and planetary scientists since the mid-sixties. However, the future of UV missions for the post-HST era is believed by a significant part of astronomical community to be less encouraging. We argue that key science problems of the coming years will require further development of UV observational technologies. Among these hot astrophysical issues are: the search for missing baryons, revealing the nature of astronomical engines, properties of atmospheres of exoplanets as well as of the planets of the Solar System etc. We give a brief review of UV-missions both in the past and in the future. We conclude that UV astronomy has a great future but the epoch of very large and efficient space UV facilities seems to be a prospect for the next decades. As to the current state of the UV instrumentation we think that this decade will be dominated by the HST and coming World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) with a 1.7 m UV-telescope onboard. The international WSO-UV mission is briefly described. It will allow high resolution/high sensitivity imaging and high/low resolution spectroscopy from the middle of the decade.     

UV detectors for spectrographs of WSO-UV project

The WUVS (WSO-UV Ultra Violet Spectrographs) consists of two high resolution spectrographs (R=50000) covering the Far-UV range of 115–176 nm and the Near-UV range of 174–310 nm, and a long-slit spectrograph (R=1000) covering the wavelength range of 115–305 nm. Significant progress in the CCD development gives a possibility to use back-illuminated CCD detectors with anti-reflection coating for observations in the UV. These detectors are under construction by e2v company (UK) based on their heritage of detectors production for numerous space missions including those for UV- and far-UV. The main parameters of WUVS detector subsystems are described.     

The imaging and slitless spectroscopy instrument for surveys (ISSIS) for the world space observatory-ultraviolet (WSO-UV)

ISSIS is the Imaging and Slitless Spectroscopy Instrument for the World Space Observatory-Ultraviolet (WSO-UV) mission. ISSIS is a multipurpose instrument designed to carry out high resolution (<0.1 arcsec) imaging in the far UV with fields of view ≥2×2 arcmin². ISSIS has two acquisition channels: the High Sensitivity Channel (HSC) and the Channel for Surveys (CfS). The HSC is equipped with an MCP-type detector to guarantee high sensitivity in the 1150–1750 ? range and high rejection of lower energy radiation. The CfS is equipped with a large CCD detector (4k×4k) to obtain images from the far UV to the red (1150–8500 ?); the CfS is implemented to allow observing UV bright sources such as reflection nebulae or nearby massive star forming regions. The design drivers and the current status of the instrument are described in this contribution.     

UV view of High Mass X-Ray Binary systems (what we know and perspectives for WSO-UV)

High Mass X-Ray Binary systems (HMXRB) are composed by a compact object orbiting around a OB massive star. The mass transfer which takes place from the massive star onto its compact companion is the responsible of the emission of high energy photons (X-rays) observed in these systems (to which they owe the name of their class). The presence of a compact object must exert a clear influence in the outer envelopes of the massive star and, thus, must modify the formation and evolution of its stellar wind. Tidal interactions, mass capture and high energy radiation heating and pressure are among the possible ways in which the compact companion and the X-ray emission will influence the stellar wind of the massive counterpart. The status of the observations of such systems from previous UV missions will be reviewed, and perspectives for the incoming WSO-UV space mission will be reported.     

An instrument to measure the solar spectrum from 170 to 3200 nm on board Spacelab

This instrument, at the present time in development, will fly on board Spacelab I in May 1983. Other flights are foreseen during the following missions. This instrument is composed by three double monochromators covering the range 170 to 3200 nm. The spectrometers have band-passes of 1 nm up to 900 nm and 20 nm from 850 to 3200 nm with an accuracy 10^–2 nm. Calibration lamps are included in the instrument to monitor any change of its sensitivity and wavelength scale.Proceedings of the 14th ESLAB Symposium on Physics of Solar Variations, 16–19 September 1980, Scheveningen, The Netherlands.Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique, 3, avenue Circulaire-B1180 Bruxelles, Belgique.Landessternwarte-Koenigstuhl, D6900 Heidelberg, F.R.G.Hamburger Sternwarte, Gojenbergsweg, D2050 Hamburg 80, F.R.G.     

Crowded-field image simulator for WSO-UV/ISSIS: first functional version developed by the Glendama team

We are developing a web-based interactive software to simulate crowded-field imaging with ISSIS on board the future WSO-UV. This new tool is aimed to prepare WSO-UV/ISSIS proposals to observe multicomponent targets and dense fields. For a given combination of UV channel, filters and exposure time, the user creates a set of point-like and extended sources (source model). This source model produces a final image, which takes into account a pixelated field of view, a realistic conversion between physical flux and counts per second, the convolution with the expected point spread function, a sky background and noise fluctuations. The current version of the simulator is available at the Glendama website, and it allows users to specify all relevant parameters of each point-like or extended source, drag-and-drop sources by using a mouse or a fingertip/stylus on a touchscreen, change the frame size or the brightness scale, etc.     

Experimental Spectroscopy in the Ultraviolet Range of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

The main parameters of spectroscopic experiments in the UV range of the electromagnetic spectrum are estimated. Different spectral devices are compared in terms of their potential quality. Some technical details of current UV experiments and prospects of spectrographs of the WSO-UV project are discussed.     

Future instrumentation for solar physics: a double channel MOF imager on board ASI Space Mission ADAHELI

A Magneto-Optical Filter-based system has been proposed as an optional payload for ASI’s low-budget Solar Mission ADAHELI, which has completed its Phase A feasibility study. The instrument is capable of providing simultaneous Dopplergrams, intensity and magnetic solar full-disk maps using the potassium 770 nm and sodium 589 nm solar Fraunhofer lines. The instrument is a version, re-designed for a space environment, of the one which has run an observing campaign at the South Pole in 2008 with unprecedented performance. The MOF-based system we present here is a low-cost, low-weight instrument, thus particularly fit to space applications, capable of providing stability and sensitivity of signals on long-term observations. The instrument will explore regions of the oscillation spectrum not available to other missions’ instruments.     

Solar dynamics imaging system a back-end instrument for the proposed NLST

The Solar Dynamics Imaging System (SDIS) will be one of the focal plane instruments operated at the National Large Solar Telescope (NLST). The prime objective of the instrument is to obtain high spatial and temporal resolution images of the region of interest on the Sun in the wavelength range from 390 nm to 900 nm. The SDIS provides filtergrams using broad-band filters while preserving the Strehl ratio provided by the telescope. Furthermore, the SDIS is expected to provide observations that allow image reconstruction to extract wave front information and achieve a homogenous image quality over the entire FOV.     

First Solar EUV Irradiances Obtained from SOHO by the Celias/Sem

The first results obtained with the Solar EUV Monitor (SEM), part of the Charge, Element, and Isotope Analysis System (CELIAS) instrument, aboard the SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) satellite are presented. The instrument monitors the full-disk absolute value of the solar Heii irradiance at 30.4 nm, and the full-disk absolute solar irradiance integrated between 0.1 nm and 77 nm. The SEM was first turned on December 15, 1995 and obtained ‘first light’ on December 16, 1995. At this time the SOHO spacecraft was close to the L-1 Lagrange point, 1.5 × 10⁶ km from the Earth towards the Sun. The data obtained by the SEM during the first four and a half months of operation will be presented. Although the period of observation is near solar minimum, the SEM data reveal strong short-term solar irradiance variations in the broad-band, central image channel, which includes solar X-ray emissions.     

NAHUAL: a near‐infrared high‐resolution spectrograph for the GTC optimized for studies of ultracool dwarfs

We present the status of an ongoing study for a high‐resolution near‐infrared echelle spectrograph for the 10.4‐m GTC (Gran Telescopio de Canarias) which will soon start operating at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma. The main science driver of this instrument, which we have baptized NAHUAL, is to carry out a high precision radial velocity survey of exoplanets around ultracool dwarfs. NAHUAL is being especially designed to achieve the highest possible accuracy for radial velocity measurements. The goal is to reach an accuracy of a few m/s. It is thus required that the instrument is cross‐dispersed and that it covers simultaneously a wide wavelength range. Absorption cells will be placed in front of the slit which will allow a simultaneous self‐reference similar to an iodine‐cell in the optical regime. It is planned to place the instrument at one of the Nasmyth platform of the GTC behind the Adaptive Optics system. Our current design reaches a maximum spectral resolution of λ/Δλ = 50000 with a slit width of 0.175 arcsec, and gives nearly complete spectral coverage from 900 to 2400 nm. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The Spectral Irradiance Monitor: Scientific Requirements, Instrument Design, and Operation Modes

The Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM) is a dual Fèry prism spectrometer that employs 5 detectors per spectrometer channel to cover the wavelength range from 200 to 2700 nm. This instrument is used to monitor solar spectral variability throughout this wavelength region. Two identical, mirror-image, channels are used for redundancy and in-flight measurement of prism degradation. The primary detector for this instrument is an electrical substitution radiometer (ESR) designed to measure power levels ∼1000 times smaller than other radiometers used to measure TSI. The four complementary focal plane photodiodes are used in a fast-scan mode to acquire the solar spectrum, and the ESR calibrates their radiant sensitivity. Wavelength control is achieved by using a closed loop servo system that employs a linear charge coupled device (CCD) in the focal plane. This achieves 0.67 arcsec control of the prism rotation angle; this is equivalent to a wavelength positioning error of δλ/λ = 150 parts per million (ppm). This paper will describe the scientific measurement requirements used for instrument design and implementation, instrument performance, and the in-flight instrument operation modes.     

An instrument to observe low-degree solar oscillations

We have constructed an instrument optimized to observe solar oscillations of low degree. The primary goal of this instrument, which we call LOWL, is to measure the frequency splitting of the low-degree modes in order to determine the rotation rate of the solar core. The LOWL is a Doppler imager based on a magneto-optical filter. It employs a two-beam technique to simultaneously observe solar images in opposite wings of the absorption line of potassium at 769.9 nm. This instrument is very stable against drifts in the wavelength zero-point, is insensitive to noise sources due to intensity fluctuations and image motion, and has a Doppler analyzer with no moving parts. The LOWL has been deployed at HAO's observing station on Mauna Loa, Hawaii and will operate for a period of at least two years.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

Atmospheric NO from space: the SCIAMACHY capabilities

The SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric ChartograpHY (SCIAMACHY) has been proposed in 1988 as a payload of the ESA earth observation satellite ENVISAT 1, which is scheduled for launch in 2001 for a four-year mission. SCIAMACHY operates in eight channels covering the UV, the visible and two infrared regions. Recent developments in the testing of the instrument now enable not only the full use of channel 1 (240 nm–314 nm) at a required high level of performance but in some special cases its extension to 220 nm. This instrumental improvement allows new objectives to be addressed in the upper stratoosphere, on top of the already proposed mesospheric and thermospheric investigations of nitric oxide. Simulations show the instrument capabilities for these studies. These NO observations will be performed in solar occultation, lunar occultation and nadir. Previous NO results are reviewed with an emphasis on results obtained by the infrared solar occultation technique as exemplified by the SPACELAB grille spectrometer and other instruments. The capabilities of SCIAMACHY for mapping the total column of upper atmospheric NO is investigated as well as possibilities to infer NO vertical distribution and transfer properties between the different atmospheric regions.     

Spinor: Visible and Infrared Spectro-Polarimetry at the National Solar Observatory

The Spectro-Polarimeter for Infrared and Optical Regions (SPINOR) is a new spectro-polarimeter that will serve as a facility instrument for the Dunn Solar Telescope at the National Solar Observatory. This instrument is capable of achromatic polarimetry over a very broad range of wavelengths, from 430 to 1600 nm, allowing for the simultaneous observation of several visible and infrared spectral regions with full Stokes polarimetry. Another key feature of the design is its flexibility to observe virtually any combination of spectral lines, limited only by practical considerations (e.g., the number of detectors available, space on the optical bench, etc.). Visiting Astronomers, National Solar Observatory, operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA), under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.     

PHOKA experiment: Description of the equipment and first results

The CORONAS-PHOTON Russian satellite intended to study the Sun was successfully launched into orbit on January 30, 2009. Scientific equipment of the satellite includes the PHOKA radiometer of soft X-ray and extreme UV radiation. The PHOKA instrument is intended to measure the absolute flux of solar electromagnetic radiation in the spectral windows of 0.5–7 nm, 0.5–11 nm, 27–37 nm, and 116–125 nm. When leaving and entering the Earth’s shadow, the instrument aboard the spacecraft measures absorption of radiation by various layers of the Earth’s atmosphere. Before the launch, photodiodes of the instrument had been calibrated using a synchrotron radiation source. In-flight stability of sensitivity of main channels is controlled using calibration channels. The paper describes the PHOKA instrument and presents its capabilities and main characteristics, as well as some results of its operation in orbit.