S. N. Tandon

Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) on ASTROSAT

The Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope on ASTROSAT Satellite mission is a suite of Far Ultra Violet (FUV: 130 - 180 nm), Near Ultra Violet (NUV: 200 - 300 nm) and Visible band (VIS: 320-550nm) imagers. ASTROSAT is the multi-wavelength mission of ISRO. UVIT will image the sky simultaneously in three channels with a field of view diameter of ~ 28 arcminutes and an angular resolution < 1.8. Two identical co-aligned telescopes (T1, T2) of Ritchey-Chretien configuration (Primary mirror of ~375 mm diameter) collect the celestial radiation and feed the detector systems via a selectable filter on a filter wheel mechanism; gratings are available in the filter wheels of FUV and NUV channels for slitless low-resolution spectroscopy. The photon-counting detector system for each of the 3 channels is generically identical. One of the telescopes images in the FUV channel, while the other images in NUV and VIS channels via a beamsplitter. Images from the VIS channel are principally used for measuring drift, used in construction of images on the ground by shift and add, and to reconstruct absolute aspect of the images. Adequate baffling has been provided for reducing the scattered background from the Sun, earth albedo and other bright objects. The one-time opening mechanical cover on each telescope also works as a Sun-shield after deployment. We will present the overall (mechanical, optical and electrical) design of the payload.

In-orbit performance of UVIT on ASTROSAT

We present the in-orbit performance and the first results from the ultra-violet Imaging telescope (UVIT) on ASTROSAT. UVIT consists of two identical 38cm coaligned telescopes, one for the FUV channel (130-180nm) and the other for the NUV (200-300nm) and VIS (320-550nm) channels, with a field of view of 28 arcmin. The FUV and the NUV detectors are operated in the high gain photon counting mode whereas the VIS detector is operated in the low gain integration mode. The FUV and NUV channels have filters and gratings, whereas the VIS channel has filters. The ASTROSAT was launched on 28th September 2015. The performance verification of UVIT was carried out after the opening of the UVIT doors on 30th November 2015, till the end of March 2016 within the allotted time of 50 days for calibration. All the on-board systems were found to be working satisfactorily. During the PV phase, the UVIT observed several calibration sources to characterise the instrument and a few objects to demonstrate the capability of the UVIT. The resolution of the UVIT was found to be about 1.4 - 1.7 arcsec in the FUV and NUV. The sensitivity in various filters were calibrated using standard stars (white dwarfs), to estimate the zero-point magnitudes as well as the flux conversion factor. The gratings were also calibrated to estimate their resolution as well as effective area. The sensitivity of the filters were found to be reduced up to 15% with respect to the ground calibrations. The sensitivity variation is monitored on a monthly basis. At the end of the PV phase, the instrument calibration is almost complete and the remaining calibrations will be completed by September 2016. UVIT is all set to roll out science results with its imaging capability with good resolution and large field of view, capability to sample the UV spectral region using different filters and capability to perform variability studies in the UV.

In-orbit Calibrations of the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope

The Ultra-Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) is one of the payloads in ASTROSAT, the first Indian Space Observatory. The UVIT instrument has two 375 mm telescopes: one for the far-ultraviolet (FUV) channel (1300–1800 A), and the other for the near-ultraviolet (NUV) channel (2000–3000 A) and the visible (VIS) channel (3200–5500 A). UVIT is primarily designed for simultaneous imaging in the two ultraviolet channels with spatial resolution better than 18, along with provisions for slit-less spectroscopy in the NUV and FUV channels. The results of in-orbit calibrations of UVIT are presented in this paper.

In-orbit performance of UVIT and first results

The performance of the ultraviolet telescope (UVIT) on-board AstroSat is reported. The performance in orbit is also compared with estimates made from the calibrations done on the ground. The sensitivity is found to be within

Tests and calibration on ultra violet imaging telescope (UVIT)

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UVIT view of ram-pressure stripping in action: Star formation in the stripped gas of the GASP jellyfish galaxy JO201 in Abell 85

∼15% of the estimates, and the spatial resolution in the NUV is found to exceed significantly the design value of

UVIT observations of the star-forming ring in NGC 7252: Evidence of possible AGN feedback suppressing central star formation

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