Paper 13093-114
Paper 13093-114
Observing modes of the SPRITE 12U CubeSat: a probe of star formation feedback with far-UV imaging spectroscopy
17 June 2024 • 17:30 - 19:00 Japan Standard Time | Room G5, North - 1F
Abstract
SPRITE (Supernova Remnants, Proxies for Reionization Testbed Experiment) is a 12U CubeSat mission funded by NASA and led by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The payload will house the first sub-arcminute resolution Far-UV long-slit spectrograph with access to the Lyman UV, enabled by new enhanced lithium fluoride coatings and an ultra-low-noise photon-counting microchannel plate (MCP) detector. The scientific mission has two main components with distinct observing modes: for low-redshift galaxies we will operate the MCP detector in photon-counting mode and obtain 2D spectra with a single pointing, while for nearby star forming regions and supernova remnants we will operate the MCP in an accumulation / integration mode and collate multiple pointings of the long slit to create 3D spectroscopic cubes. SPRITE will also take weekly calibration data to characterize the degradation of the coatings and detector. We present these observing modes along with the data acquisition and operations supporting the scientific mission of SPRITE.
Presenter
Donal O'Sullivan
Lab. for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Univ. of Colorado Boulder (United States)
Donal O'Sullivan received his PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 2020, where he worked on optical and UV integral field spectrographs focused on observations of the circumgalactic medium. He is now a Research Scientist in the Colorado Ultraviolet Spectroscopy Program at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.