Paper 13093-102
Paper 13093-102
Straylight analysis and baffle design for the Aspera UV SmallSat astrophysics mission
17 June 2024 • 17:30 - 19:00 Japan Standard Time | Room G5, North - 1F
Abstract
Aspera is a NASA Astrophysics Pioneers SmallSat project, designed to study galaxy evolution by detecting warm-hot coronal galaxy halos through spectroscopic OVI emission observation at 1032 Å. Using two Rowland-Circle spectrographs with off-axis parabolas and toroidal gratings sharing a Micro Channel Plate detector, the mission faces the challenge of achieving a low instrument scattered light background. This paper details a comprehensive analysis of straylight in the instrument, presenting a two-staged baffle design to minimize background. The first stage optimizes vane geometry using a first-order algorithm, preventing out-of-field straylight from reaching the detector. The second stage strategically places a shared baffle structure to block unwanted light. Coated with Acktar Magic Black, the baffles successfully meet stray light suppression requirements in simulation studies, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed design. This work provides valuable insights for optimizing instrument design in missions with stringent background requirements.
Presenter
The Univ. of Arizona (United States)
Simran Agarwal is a skilled Optical Engineer, with a strong educational background and practical experience in optical sciences. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona, expected to be completed by December 2024. Simran holds a master’s degree in Optical Sciences from the same university and an MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Bangkok University, along with a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering from the Asian Institute of Technology.
Simran's work experience comprises of significant contributions in stray light analysis for the Aspera NASA Pioneers Cubesat Mission at Steward Observatory, where she has been working since February 2021.She also played a key role in the Alignment and Testing of the FIREBall-2 Optics at the same observatory since May 2019. Here, she led the team for aligning the spectrograph and focal corrector optics of a sub-orbital balloon payload FIREBall-2.