ESA Science & Technology - Publication Archive
Publication archive
Publication archive
A report to NASA recommending addition or optimization of the James Webb Space Telescope capabilities to maximize astrobiology science return.
JWST has many 'nascent capabilities' that could be developed to optimize their value for astrobiology at little cost or detriment to other JWST science. Here we summarize recommendations to the JWST project to ensure a wide variety of key astrobiological contributions.
The International X-ray Observatory (IXO) is a candidate mission in the ESA Space Science Programme Cosmic Visions 1525.
IXO is being studied as a joint mission with NASA and JAXA. The mission is building on novel optics technologies to achieve the required performance for this demanding astrophysics observatory. The European X-ray optics technology baseline is the Silicon Pore optics (SPO), which is being developed by an industrial consortium. In a phased approach the performance, environmental compatibility and industrial production aspects are being addressed. As a back-up technology ESA is also investigating slumped glass optics, which forms the baseline for the NASA approach.
The paper, which was presented at the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010, presents a summary of the ESA-led optics technology preparation activities and the associated roadmap.
The International X-ray Observatory (IXO) is an L class mission candidate within the science programme Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 of the European Space Agency, with a planned launch by 2020. IXO is an international cooperative project, pursued by ESA, JAXA and NASA. By allowing astrophysical observations between 100 eV and 40 keV, IXO would represent the new generation X-ray observatory, following the XMM-Newton, Astro-H and Chandra heritage. The IXO mission concept is based on a single aperture telescope with an external diameter of about 3.5 m, a focal length of 20 m and a number of focal plane instruments, positioned at the focal point via a movable platform. A grating spectrometer, enabling parallel measurements, is also included in the model payload. Two parallel competitive industrial assessment studies are being carried out by ESA on the overall IXO mission, while the instruments are being studied by dedicated instrument consortia. The main results achieved during this study are summarised in this paper which was presented at the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010 conference.
The International X-ray Observatory (IXO) is an L class mission candidate within the science Programme Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 of the European Space Agency, with a planned launch by 2020. IXO is an international cooperative project, pursued by ESA, JAXA and NASA. By allowing astrophysical observations between 100 eV and 40 keV using a very large effective collecting area mirror and state-of-the art instruments, IXO would represent the new generation X-ray observatory, following the XMM-Newton, Astro-H and Chandra heritage.
This paper was presented at the SPIE conference on Astronomical Instrumentation 2010 conference.
Aims. This paper describes the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) that was launched onboard ESA's Herschel Space Observatory in May 2009.
Methods. The instrument is a set of 7 heterodyne receivers that are electronically tuneable, covering 480-1250 GHz with SIS mixers and the 1410-1910 GHz range with hot electron bolometer (HEB) mixers. The local oscillator (LO) subsystem comprises a Ka-band synthesizer followed by 14 chains of frequency multipliers and 2 chains for each frequency band. A pair of auto-correlators and a pair of acousto-optical spectrometers process the two IF signals from the dual-polarization, single-pixel front-ends to provide instantaneous frequency coverage of 2 × 4 GHz, with a set of resolutions (125 kHz to 1 MHz) that are better than 0.1 km s-1.
Results. After a successful qualification and a pre-launch TB/TV test program, the flight instrument is now in-orbit and completed successfully the commissioning and performance verification phase. The in-orbit performance of the receivers matches the pre-launch sensitivities. We also report on the in-orbit performance of the receivers and some first results of HIFI's operations.
SPIRE, the Spectral and Photometric Imaging REceiver, is the Herschel Space Observatory's submillimetre camera and spectrometer. It contains a three-band imaging photometer operating at 250, 350 and 500 mm, and an imaging Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS) covering 194-671 mm (447-1550 GHz).
In this paper we describe the initial approach taken to the absolute calibration of the SPIRE instrument using a combination of the emission from the Herschel telescope itself and the modelled continuum emission from solar system objects and other astronomical targets. We present the photometric, spectroscopic and spatial accuracy that is obtainable in data processed through the "standard" pipelines.
The overall photometric accuracy at this stage of the mission is estimated as 15% for the photometer and between 15 and 50% for the spectrometer. However, there remain issues with the photometric accuracy of the spectra of low flux sources in the longest wavelength part of the SPIRE spectrometer band.
The spectrometer wavelength accuracy is determined to be better than 1/10th of the line FWHM. The astrometric accuracy in SPIRE maps is found to be 2 arcsec when the latest calibration data are used.
The photometric calibration of the SPIRE instrument is currently determined by a combination of uncertainties in the model spectra of the astronomical standards and the data processing methods employed for map and spectrum calibration.
Improvements in processing techniques and a better understanding of the instrument performance will lead to the final calibration accuracy of SPIRE being determined only by uncertainties in the models of astronomical standards.