L15

Space Instrumentation: 

Space Instrumentation Louise K Harra UCL-Mullard Space Science Laboratory UCL DEPARTMENT OF SPACE AND CLIMATE PHYSICS MULLARD SPACE SCIENCE LABORATORY See text book ‘Space Science’ edited by Harra & Mason Chapter on space instrumentation by Culhane.

Introduction: 

Spacecraft are used for Remote observation of the environment beyond Earth In-situ observation of the extra-terrestrial environment Observation of Earth’s surface from Space This lecture will cover: Why we need to go into space. Features of space instrumentation - and what conditions they have to survive. Use of multilayer coatings to reflect EUV and X-rays Photon detection by CCDs Choice of orbits and their restrictions Future solar instrumentation Design your own instrument! Introduction

Slide3: 

Electromagnetic Spectrum Regions of the Spectrum Quantum nature of radiation: En = hn = hc/l Radio/Microwave (Frequency/Wavelength) → THz, GHz, MHz, cm, m Infra-red/Sub-mm (Wavelength) → mm, mm Visible/UV/EUV (Wavelength) → Å, nm X-ray, g-ray (Photon Energy) → eV

Slide4: 

Photon absorption by the atmosphere of the Earth What gets through the Earth’s atmosphere X-rays with E>50keV can penetrate to ~30 km above the Earth’s atmosphere - hence can be measured with a balloon flight In practical terms you have to go into space to measure these wavelengths Even for the optical band (400-1000 nm) this is affected by turbulence - this can be reduced by adaptive optics techniques which have best performance in the IR with <1m

Telescope design: 

Telescope design Grazing incidence: for short wavelengths EM radiation behaves like ordinary light rays if it strikes surfaces at a shallow enough angle. Normal incidence: the reflectivity of materials in the soft X-ray/EUV range decreases with wavelength - need multilayers to enhance R. Wolter type I telescope

X-rays absorb - how do we measure them?: 

Traditional solution for X-ray/EUV astronomy: grazing incidence telescopes Chandra X-ray telescope X-rays absorb - how do we measure them?

Slide7: 

EUV Multilayer instruments for Solar Physics: Solar-B/EIS… SOHO, TRACE…

Introduction: 

For a periodic multilayer, Bragg’s law, as in a crystal: Multilayers enable operation at normal incidence. Introduction

Slide9: 

Schematic of the TRACE EUV telescope is shown below – a 0.3 m Cassegrain system Primary and secondary mirrors are sectored in four quadrants, three of which have Mo2C/Si layers Quadrant shutter allows one sector at a time to view the Corona and register images on the CCD in the appropriate passband Mo2C/Si layers have somewhat enhanced performance compared to Mo/Si

Remote Sensing of Sun: 

Remote Sensing of Sun Information only derived from solar radiation 4 ‘measurables’: t, x, y, λ Detectors are 2-dimensional, time obtained by repeated exposures Something has to go! x, y or λ

Remote Sensing of Sun: 

Remote Sensing of Sun Two approaches Filtergrams Filter out a small portion of the spectrum, and take X-Y images Spectroscopy Throw out one of the spatial dimensions to obtain wavelength resolution

Filtergrams: EIT example: 

Filtergrams: EIT example

Spectroscopy: CDS example: 

Spectroscopy: CDS example 2D images are built up by rastering

MOSES concept: 

MOSES concept We will achieve spectroscopy and imaging SIMULTANEOUSLY over a large field of view The MOSES rocket will now be launched on 31st January - first results will be out asap after this. The design is simple with no moving parts. The reconstruction can be carried out by a simple subtraction of the orders - this will give you a first ‘quick-look’ of the bulk flows observed. For more detailed analysis, algorithms such as SMART are used.

MOSES first results: 

MOSES first results CDS observation: 28 mins. MOSES spectral image: 20s

Resolution limits: 

Resolution limits Spatial resolution is limited by diffraction. The resolution of a given instrument is proportional to the diameter of its objective, and inversely proportional to the wavelength of the light being observed. So for example, when the spacecraft study of Orbiter determined that the aperture had to be reduced because of thermal problems, this had an impact on the resolution.

Charge coupled devices - behaviour: 

Charge coupled devices - behaviour Quantum efficiency: Not every photon falling onto a detector will actually be detected and converted into an electrical impulse. The percentage of photons that are actually detected is known as the Quantum Efficiency (QE). Wavelength range: CCDs can have a wide wavelength range ranging from about 400nm (blue) to about 1050nm (Infra-red) with a peak sensitivity at around 700nm. However, using a process known as backthinning, it is possible to extend the wavelength range of a CCD down into shorter wavelengths such as the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray. Dynamic range: the dynamic range of a CCD is usually discussed in terms of the minimum and maximum number of electrons that can be imaged. As more light falls onto the CCD, more and more electrons are collected in a potential well, and eventually no more electrons can be accommodated within the potential well and the pixel is said to be saturated.

CCDs - more on  behaviour: 

CCDs - more on behaviour Noise: Dark current - i.e thermally generated noise. At room temperature, the noise performance of a CCD can be as much as thousands of electrons per pixel per second. Consequently, the full well capacity of each pixel will be reached in a few seconds and the CCD will be saturated. Dark current can be massively reduced by cooling. Readout noise - the ultimate noise limit of the CCD is the readout noise. The readout noise originates from the conversion of the electrons in each pixel to a voltage on the CCD output node (a typical value would be around 4V per electron). The magnitude of this noise depends on the size of the output node.

Challenges in orbit: 

Challenges in orbit Vacuum of space: contaminants can readily move from one part of an instrument to another, high voltage discharge is an issue. Sun’s thermal radiation: typically a satellite will be illuminated by the Sun on one side (T~6000K) and the Earth (T~300K) or space (~4K) on the other. Ionising radiation - commercial electronics are not suitable as they are not radiation hard

Launching: 

Launching The primary driver for cost of the launch is the mass. This will then restrict the size of the spacecraft The instruments will be subject to severe vibration and acoustic noise from the rocket motors. Mechanical shocks will also be present caused by e.g. the first stage separation.

Vibration testing: 

Vibration testing Solar-B going through its paces

Telemetry: 

Telemetry Telemetry is a crucial constraint for solar satellite observations, limiting the cadence of imaging instruments, and reducing the quantity of spectral information produced Initially, EIT was allocated 1 kilobits/s (kbs) telemetry rate, corresponding to only 6 full-disk images/day! SOHO has a standard science telemetry rate of 40 kbs

Choice of Orbit: 

Choice of Orbit Low Earth Orbit (LEO) - orbit between the atmosphere and the Van-Allen radiation belts. This minimises the damaging effect of high energy particles. They are 200-1200km above the Earth with an orbital period of 90-100 mins. Can be prepared by the space shuttle (e.g. HST, SMM) High Earth Orbit (HEO) - is above the radiation belts - more expensive to launch (e.g. XMM-Newton). Apogee > 30,000km. Geosynchronous orbit - has the same orbital period as the sidereal period of the Earth. It has an altitude of 42,164km. IUE was operated this way - it meant full time contact.

Leaving Earth Orbit: 

Leaving Earth Orbit The Lagrangian points are the 5 points in IP space where a spacecraft can be stationary relative to the Sun and the Earth (for example). SOHO flies at the Lagrangian point of the Earth’s orbit about the Sun, in the same orbit as the Earth, & kept in place by the shepherding effect of the Earth’s gravity. Ulysses was launched by the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1990. It headed out to Jupiter, arriving in February 1992 for a gravity-assisted manoeuvre that swung the craft into its unique solar polar orbit.

Where is Ulysses today?: 

Where is Ulysses today?

STEREO’s orbit: 

STEREO’s orbit

Solar Orbiter’s orbit: 

Solar Orbiter’s orbit

Take a break! Design your own instrument: 

Take a break! Design your own instrument In the 10 min break think about what science question you would like answered and can’t with current/future instrumentation. Come up with science requirements that would define the instrument - spatial, temporal, spectral resolutions, field of view etc. etc. We’ll discuss this at the end of the lecture.

Solar-B: 

Solar-B Japan/USA/UK mission Follow-up to Yohkoh 3 scientific instruments X-ray imager (XRT) EUV spectrometer (EIS) Optical telescope (SOT) Launch 2006 Mission aim: Solar-B will study the connections between fine magnetic field elements in the photosphere and the structure and dynamics of the entire solar atmosphere. The ‘Hubble’ of Solar Physics

Solar Optical Telescope: 

Solar Optical Telescope 0.5 m optical telescope feeds the Focal Plane Package (FPP) Telescope diffraction-limited to ~0.25 arcsec resolution Maximum field-of-view: 2.75x2.75 arcmin²

Focal Plane Package: 

Focal Plane Package Spectro-Polarimeter Based on successful HAO Advanced Stokes Polarimeter Takes spectra at different polarisations to allow vector magnetic field to be determined Raster images produced; pixel size 0.16 arcsec; 164x328 arcsec² field-of-view Narrowband Filter Imager 0.08 arcsec pixels; 164x328 arcsec² field-of-view Vector magnetograms obtained by rapidly taking images at different wavelengths and polarizations Broadband Filter Imager 0.05 arcsec pixels; 100x200 arcsec² field-of-view White light images; velocitygrams; magnetograms

Solar-B – XRT: 

Solar-B – XRT X-Ray Telescope Direct successor to the SXT on Yohkoh Key features: 2 arcsec resolution (1 arcsec pixels) Greater sensitivity to cool corona (1-2 MK) 34x34 arcmin² field-of-view (full solar disk)

EUV Imaging Spectrometer: 

EUV Imaging Spectrometer UK-led instrument (PI: Len Culhane, MSSL) Spectra in 170-210Å and 250-290Å wavelength ranges Field-of-view 6 x 8 arcmin² Spatial scale: 1 arcsec pixels Spectral scale: 0.02Å pixels Line centroids ~3 km/s; line widths ~20 km/s

Solar-B Co-Alignment: 

Solar-B Co-Alignment EIS and XRT are physically attached to the SOT XRT can not be pointed independently of SOT XRT co-alignment performed by taking white light images In order to obtain rasters, EIS has internal mirror motions to change area being observed Co-alignment of EIS with XRT will be made through cool XRT channels

STEREO: 

STEREO Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory Two identical spacecraft leading and following the Earth Launch 2005 Four instrument packages SECCHI PLASTIC SWAVES IMPACT Goal: Understand the origin and consequences of CMEs

STEREO Mission Phases: 

STEREO Mission Phases Phase 1 (first 400 days; α50°) 3-D structure of the corona Phase 2 (days 400 to 800; 50°α110°) Physics of CMEs Phase 3 (days 800 to 1100; 110°α180°) Earth-directed CMEs Phase 4 (after day 1100; α>180°) Global solar evolution and space weather

STEREO – SECCHI: 

STEREO – SECCHI Instruments EUVI (EUV imager) COR1 & COR2 (white light coronagraphs) HI (heliospheric imager) EUVI and CORs are direct follow-ons to EIT and LASCO

SECCHI – EUVI: 

SECCHI – EUVI Successor to EIT Image channels: Fe IX 171, Fe XII 195, Fe XIV 211, He II 304 Larger detector (2048x2048 pixels) leads to Higher spatial resolution (1.6 arcsec vs. 2.5 arcsec) Larger field-of-view (1.7 Rsun vs. 1.4 Rsun) Higher telemetry ensures higher image cadence

SECCHI – COR1 & COR2: 

SECCHI – COR1 & COR2 Two coronagraphs do a similar job to the three coronagraphs of LASCO COR1 1.1-3.0 Rsun; 7.5 arcsec pixels Measures polarization COR2 2-15 Rsun; 14 arcsec pixels Higher spatial resolution and time cadence than LASCO C3

Heliospheric Imager (HI): 

Heliospheric Imager (HI) UK-led instrument (PI: Richard Harrison, RAL) Will obtain a new type of solar data: imaging of CMEs out to 1 a.u. Images not Sun-centred (unlike coronagraphs) Two independent telescopes (HI-1, HI-2) with half-angle fields-of-view of 10º and 35º

Solar Dynamics Observatory: 

Solar Dynamics Observatory Launch 2007 Part of International Living with a Star Program 3 instrument packages selected by NASA: AIA (imaging and coronagraph) HMI (magnetograph) EVE (extreme ultraviolet irradiance monitoring) Geosynchronous orbit Very high telemetry rate (160 Mbs)

SDO: 

SDO HMI (Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager):The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager will extend the capabilities of the SOHO/MDI instrument with continuous full-disk coverage at higher spatial resolution. PI: Phil Scherrer, PI Institution: Stanford University AIA (Atmospheric Imaging Assembly)The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly will image the solar atmosphere in multiple wavelengths to link changes in the surface to interior changes. Data will include images of the Sun in 10 wavelengths every 10 seconds. PI: Alan Title, PI Institution: Lockheed Martin Solar Astrophysics Laboratory. EVE (Extreme Ultraviolet Variablity Experiment):The Extreme Ultraviolet Variablity Experiment will measure the solar extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance with unprecedented spectral resolution, temporal cadence, and precision. Measures the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectral irradiance to understand variations on the timescales which influence Earth's climate and near-Earth space. PI: Tom Woods, PI Institution: University of Colorado.

Solar Orbiter: 

Solar Orbiter ESA mission to be run jointly with Bepi-Colombo Launch ~2015-2017 Will get as close as 0.2 a.u. Both in-situ and remote sensing instrument packages Remote sensing: Visible imager and magnetograph EUV imager EUV spectrometer Coronagraph

Orbit: 

Orbit Each orbit is around 150 days Every 3rd orbit a fly-by of Venus gives an out of the ecliptic kick to the spacecraft Orbit reaches latitudes of ~30° during extended mission (> 4 years)

Solar Orbiter – Latitude Range: 

Solar Orbiter – Latitude Range

Getting started with AstroGrid: 3 steps: 

Getting started with AstroGrid: 3 steps STEP 1 Launch the AstroGrid workbench from http://software.astrogrid.org/jnlp/workbench/workbench.jnlp Search for solar and STP data with HelioScope. (Look under the workbench “Data Discovery” tab.) Load solar and STP data from HelioScope with Aladin, TOPCAT, and other tools listed at http://plastic.sourceforge.net. STEP 2 Register for an AstroGrid account for access to remote applications and virtual storage. Email email astrogrid_signup@star.le.ac.uk for a username. Try out the solar movie maker parameterized workflow (look in “Science Examples” under the workbench “Workflow” tab). Look for other solar and STP data analysis, visualization and modelling applications in the Task Launcher (also under the workbench “Workflow” tab). STEP 3 Find out more about advanced data searches and applications by clicking the workbench “Advanced” tab or looking at http://www2.astrogrid.org/documentation/ag-help-docs/.

Solar data with AstroGrid: 

Solar data with AstroGrid The AstroGrid Helioscope tool finds solar and STP data from virtual observatories in the UK, US and Europe. How to: Launch the AstroGrid workbench and click “HelioScope”. Enter a start and stop time. Check “time series” and / or “graphic”. Click search. Double click a “time bubble” to select data. Current Datasets: Solar: TRACE; SOHO EIT, CDS, MDI, and LASCO STP: Cluster, ACE, Wind spacecraft, Ulysses, Polar spacecraft Coming soon: Solar-B, Yohkoh AstroGrid workbench “Data Discovery” tab. AstroGrid HelioScope solar data search tool.

Solar data analysis with AstroGrid: 

Solar data analysis with AstroGrid The AstroGrid Task Launcher and Workflow Builder provide access to remote processing tools, either as stand alone applications or as part of a larger workflow. How to: Launch the AstroGrid workbench and click the “Workflow” tab. Click the “Science Examples” tab to run a parameterized workflow. Or click the “Task Launcher” to run a single application. Or click the “Workflow Builder” to construct a complex workflow. Solar and STP applications: Solar Movie Maker Solar Overlay Solar Data Reductor CTIP model and movie maker Plot STP GNUPlot ACE AstroGrid application launcher showing application search on “solar”.

Solar movie maker: example: 

Solar movie maker: example 1. Click “Science Examples”. 2. Log in and select “solar movie maker.” 3. Enter instrument name, start time and stop time and press the OK button. 4. View finished EIT movie: (example) http://www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/~eca/Astrogrid/eitmovie.mpg

Future, future instruments: 

Future, future instruments What are they???