P. Rochus

The SWAP EUV Imaging Telescope. Part II: In-flight Performance and Calibration

The Sun Watcher with Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing (SWAP) telescope was launched on 2 November 2009 onboard the ESA PROBA2 technological mission and has acquired images of the solar corona every one to two minutes for more than two years. The most important technological developments included in SWAP are a radiation-resistant CMOS-APS detector and a novel onboard data-prioritization scheme. Although such detectors have been used previously in space, they have never been used for long-term scientific observations on orbit. Thus SWAP requires a careful calibration to guarantee the science return of the instrument. Since launch we have regularly monitored the evolution of SWAP’s detector response in-flight to characterize both its performance and degradation over the course of the mission. These measurements are also used to reduce detector noise in calibrated images (by subtracting dark-current). Because accurate measurements of detector dark-current require large telescope off-points, we also monitored straylight levels in the instrument to ensure that these calibration measurements are not contaminated by residual signal from the Sun. Here we present the results of these tests and examine the variation of instrumental response and noise as a function of both time and temperature throughout the mission.

SWAP and LYRA: space weather from a small spacecraft

Two scientific instruments for Sun observations are being developed to be part of the payload of the ESAs second microsatellite, Proba-II (Project for On-board Autonomy). PROBA-2 is scheduled for launch in early 2007, on a low Earth orbit. Like Proba-1, in orbit since October 2001, Proba-2 is a 100-kilogram class spacecraft. PROBA-II will demonstrate new advanced technologies on its scientific payload but also on new platform subsystems such as star tracker, digital Sun sensor, cool gas generator, solar array concentrator, Li-Ion Battery, new central processor. This paper is dedicated to the solar payload, comprising the Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and image Processing (SWAP) and the Lyman alpha Radiometer (LYRA), both aiming at Sun observations. SWAP, the Belgian-led main instrument, will continuously provide detailed images of the solar atmosphere, by the light of extreme ultraviolet rays, at 17.4 nm, completely absorbed by the terrestrial atmosphere. SWAP will perform as an operational solar monitoring tool for space weather forecasting while it will also demonstrate new technological solutions: CMOS/APS detector, new off-axis telescope design, a thermal structure. LYRA (LYman-alpha RAdiometer) is a small compact solar VUV radiometer. This instrument is designed, manufactured and calibrated by a Belgian-Swiss-German consortium. It will monitor the solar flux in four UV passbands. The spectral channels have been carefully selected for their relevance to space weather, solar physics and aeronomy, ranging from 1 nm to 220 nm. On the technological side, LYRA will benefit from the pioneering UV detectors program using diamond technology. The LYRA data will produce valuable solar monitoring information, for operational space weather nowcasting and research. This paper will detail the instrument concepts and their preparation for delivery to the platform.

The extreme UV imager of solar orbiter: from detailed design to flight model

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on-board the Solar Orbiter mission will provide full-sun and high-resolution image sequences of the solar atmosphere at selected spectral emission lines in the extreme and vacuum ultraviolet. After the breadboarding and prototyping activities that focused on key technologies, the EUI project has completed the design phase and has started the final manufacturing of the instrument and its validation. The EUI instrument has successfully passed its Critical Design Review (CDR). The process validated the detailed design of the Optical Bench unit and of its sub-units (entrance baffles, doors, mirrors, camera, and filter wheel mechanisms), and of the Electronic Box unit. In the same timeframe, the Structural and Thermal Model (STM) test campaign of the two units have been achieved, and allowed to correlate the associated mathematical models. The lessons learned from STM and the detailed design served as input to release the manufacturing of the Qualification Model (QM) and of the Flight Model (FM). The QM will serve to qualify the instrument units and sub-units, in advance of the FM acceptance tests and final on-ground calibration.

Optical design of the Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) of INTEGRAL

The Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) will observe the optical emission from the main targets of the gamma-ray instruments onboard the ESA mission INTEGRAL. The OMC is based on a refractive optics with an aperture of 50 mm focused onto a large format CCD (1024 2048 pixels), and a field of view of 5 5. This paper describes the design of the optical system and the optical baes of the OMC.

Innovative designs for the imaging suite on Solar Orbiter

Orbiting around the Sun on an inclined orbit with a 0.2 UA perihelion, the Solar Orbiter probe will provide high resolution views of the Sun from various angles unattainable from Earth. Together with a set of high resolution imagers, the Full Sun Imager is part of the EUV Imaging suite of the Solar Orbiter mission. The missions ambitious characteristics draw severe constraints on the design of these instruments. We present a photometrically efficient, compact, and lightweight design for the Full Sun Imager. With a 5 degrees field of view, this telescope will be able to see the global solar coronal structure from high viewing angles. Thermal solutions reducing the maximum power trapped in the High Resolution Imagers are also proposed.

MAGRITTE: an instrument suite for the solar atmospheric imaging assembly (AIA) aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Solar Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory will characterize the dynamical evolution of the solar plasma from the chromosphere to the corona, and will follow the connection of plasma dynamics with magnetic activity throughout the solar atmosphere. The AIA consists of 7 high-resolution imaging telescopes in the following spectral bandpasses: 1215Å. Ly-a, 304 Å He II, 629 Å OV, 465 Å Ne VII, 195 Å Fe XII (includes Fe XXIV), 284 Å Fe XV, and 335 Å Fe XVI. The telescopes are grouped by instrumental approach: the MAGRITTE Filtergraphs (R. MAGRITTE, famous 20th Century Belgian Surrealistic Artist), five multilayer EUV channels with bandpasses ranging from 195 to 1216 Å, and the SPECTRE Spectroheliograph with one soft-EUV channel at OV 629 Å. They will be simultaneously operated with a 10-second imaging cadence. These two instruments, the electronic boxes and two redundant Guide Telescopes (GT) constitute the AIA suite. They will be mounted and coaligned on a dedicated common optical bench. The GTs will provide pointing jitter information to the whole SHARPP assembly. This paper presents the selected technologies, the different challenges, the trade-offs to be made in phase A, and the model philosophy. From a scientific viewpoint, the unique combination high temporal and spatial resolutions with the simultaneous multi-channel capability will allow MAGRITTE / SPECTRE to explore new domains in the dynamics of the solar atmosphere, in particular the fast small-scale phenomena. We show how the spectral channels of the different instruments were derived to fulfill the AIA scientific objectives, and we outline how this imager array will address key science issues, like the transition region and coronal waves or flare precursors, in coordination with other SDO experiments. We finally describe the real-time solar monitoring products that will be made available for space-weather forecasting applications.

Acceptance tests of the INTEGRAL Optical Monitoring Camera subsystems

The Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) is a part of the scientific payload being developed for the ESA INTEGRAL mission, scheduled to be launched in 2001. The OMC is a imager that will monitor star variations in the V-band in a 5 X 5 degree(s) field of view. This paper describes the acceptance tests for 3 sub-systems of OMC: the optical system, the baffle and the cover system.

The EUI flight instrument of Solar Orbiter: from optical alignment to end-to-end calibration

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument for the Solar Orbiter mission will image the solar corona in the extreme ultraviolet (17.1 nm and 30.4 nm) and in the vacuum ultraviolet (121.6 nm) spectral ranges. The development of the EUI instrument has been successfully completed with the optical alignment of its three channels’ telescope, the thermal and mechanical environmental verification, the electrical and software validations, and an end-toend on-ground calibration of the two-units’ flight instrument at the operating wavelengths. The instrument has been delivered and installed on the Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which is now undergoing all preparatory activities before launch.

LYRA, solar uv radiometer on the technology demonstration platform PROBA-2

LYRA is a solar radiometer part of the PROBA 2 micro satellite payload. LYRA will monitor the solar irradiance in four soft X-Ray - VUV passbands. They have been chosen for their relevance to Solar Physics, Aeronomy and SpaceWeather: 1/ Lyman Alpha channel, 2/ Herzberg continuum range, 3/ Aluminium filter channel (including He II at 30.4 nm) and 4/ Zirconium filter channel. The radiometric calibration is traceable to synchrotron source standards. The stability will be monitored by on-board calibration sources (LEDs), which allow us to distinguish between potential degradations of the detectors and filters. Additionally, a redundancy strategy maximizes the accuracy and the stability of the measurements. LYRA will benefit from wide bandgap detectors based on diamond: it will be the first space assessment of revolutionary UV detectors. Diamond sensors make the instruments radiation-hard and solar-blind (insensitive to visible light) and therefore, make dispensable visible light blocking filters. To correlate the data of this new detector technology, well known technology, such as Si detectors are also embarked. The SWAP EUV imaging telescope will operate next to LYRA on PROBA-2. Together, they will provide a high performance solar monitor for operational space weather nowcasting and research. LYRA demonstrates technologies important for future missions such as the ESA Solar Orbiter.

The qualification campaign of the EUI instrument of Solar Orbiter

The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) instrument is one of the ten scientific instruments on board the Solar Orbiter mission to be launched in October 2018. It will provide full-sun and high-resolution images of the solar corona in the extreme ultraviolet (17.1 nm and 30.4 nm) and in the vacuum ultraviolet (121.6 nm). The validation of the EUI instrument design has been completed with the Assembly, Integration and Test (AIT) of the instrument two-units Qualification Model (QM). Optical, electrical, electro-magnetic compatibility, thermal and mechanical environmental verifications were conducted and are summarized here. The integration and test procedures for the Flight Model (FM) instrument and sub-systems were also verified. Following the Qualification Review, the flight instrument activities were started with the assembly of the flight units. The mechanical and thermal acceptance tests and an end-to-end final calibration in the (E)UV will then be conducted before delivery for integration on the Solar Orbiter Spacecraft by end of 2016.