Aspera: the UV SmallSat telescope to detect and map the warm-hot gas phase in nearby galaxy halos
| Autor: | Carlos J. Vargas, Erika T. Hamden, Ellie M. Wolcott, Oswald H. W. Siegmund, Tom Connors, M. G. Ward, Ewan S. Douglas, Ralf-Jürgen Dettmar, Peter Behroozi, Dave Hamara, Corwynn Sauve, Hop Bailey, J. N. Kidd, Heejoo Choi, John Guzman, Keri Hoadley, Aafaque R. Khan, Kerry L. Gonzales, Dae Wook Kim, T. J. McMahon, Simran Agarwal, David Dolana, David Schiminovich, Walter M. Harris, Trenton Brendel, K. Harshman, Lauren Corlies, J. Corliss, S. Selznick, Dennis Zaritsky, Haeun Chung, Carl Hergenrother, Jessica S. Li, Manny Montoya |
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| Přispěvatelé: | Barto, Allison A., Breckinridge, James B., Stahl, H. Philip |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Astronomy Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics Galaxy law.invention Telescope Spitzer Space Telescope Primary (astronomy) law Satellite Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Halo Spectrograph Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics Line (formation) |
| Zdroj: | UV/Optical/IR Space Telescopes and Instruments: Innovative Technologies and Concepts X. |
| Popis: | Aspera is an extreme-UV (EUV) Astrophysics small satellite telescope designed to map the warm-hot phase coronal gas around nearby galaxy halos. Theory suggests that this gas is a significant fraction of a galaxy’s halo mass and plays a critical role in its evolution, but its exact role is poorly understood. Aspera observes this warm-hot phase gas via Ovi emission at 1032 °A using four parallel Rowland-Circle-like spectrograph channels in a single payload. Aspera’s robust-and-simple design is inspired by the FUSE spectrograph, but with smaller, four 6.2 cm × 3.7 cm, off-axis parabolic primary mirrors. Aspera is expected to achieve a sensitivity of 4.3×10⁻¹⁹ erg/s/cm²/arcsec² for diffuse Ovi line emission. This superb sensitivity is enabled by technological advancements over the last decade in UV coatings, gratings, and detectors. Here we present the overall payload design of the Aspera telescope and its expected performance. Aspera is funded by the inaugural 2020 NASA Astrophysics Pioneers program, with a projected launch in late 2024. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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