The On-Orbit Performance of the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (original) (raw)
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Paper Session II-B - Early Results from the Space Telescope Imaging Spectograph
1998
The STIS instrument was installed into HST in February 1997 during the Servicing Mission 2. It has completed checkout and is beginning its science program, and is working well. Several scientific demonstration observations were taken, illustrating some of the range of scientific uses and modes of observation of STIS.
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Design
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 1998
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) instrument was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during the second servicing mission, in 1997 February. Four bands cover the wavelength range of 115-1000 nm, with spectral resolving powers between 26 and 200,000. Camera modes are used for target acquisition and deep imaging. Correction for HST's spherical aberration and astigmatism is included. The 115-170 nm range is covered by a CsI MAMA (Multianode Microchannel Array) detector and the 165-310 nm range by a Cs 2 Te MAMA, each with a format of pixels, while the 305-555 and 550-1000 nm ranges are 2048 # 2048 covered by a single CCD with a format of pixels. The multiplexing advantage of using these two-1024 # 1024 dimensional detectors compared with the pixel detectors of the first-generation spectrographs is 1 or 2 1 # 512 orders of magnitude, depending on the mode used. The relationship between the scientific goals and the instrument specifications and design is discussed.
1998
We describe a concept for an imaging spectrograph for a large orbiting observatory such as NASA's proposed Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) based on an imaging Fourier transform spectrograph (IFTS). An IFTS has several important advantages which make it an ideal instrument to pursue the scientific objectives of NGST. We review the operation of an IFTS and make a quantitative evaluation of the signal-to-noise performance of such an instrument in the context of NGST. We consider the relationship between pixel size, spectral resolution, and diameter of the beamsplitter for imaging and non-imaging Fourier transform spectrographs and give the condition required to maintain spectral modulation efficiency over the entire field of view. We give examples of scientific programs that could be performed with this facility.
Spectroradiometry with space telescopes
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, 2015
Radiometry, i.e., measuring the power of electromagnetic radiation-hitherto often referred to as "photometry"-is of fundamental importance in astronomy. We provide an overview of how to achieve a valid laboratory calibration of space telescopes and discuss ways to reliably extend this calibration to the spectroscopic telescope's performance in space. A lot of effort has been, and still is going into radiometric "calibration" of telescopes once they are in space; these methods use celestial primary and transfer standards and are based in part on stellar models. The history of the calibration of the Hubble Space Telescope serves as a platform to review these methods. However, we insist that a true calibration of spectroscopic space telescopes must directly be based on and traceable to laboratory standards, and thus be independent of the observations.
Monitoring of the wavelength calibration lamps for the Hubble Space Telescope
Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Optical, Infrared, and Millimeter Wave, 2010
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) are the two optical-UV spectrographs on board the Hubble Space Telescope. To determine the wavelength scale for individual science observations, internal arc lamp spectra accompany most observations of external targets. Here we present a detailed analysis of the changes in the COS and STIS internal lamp fluxes and spectra over time, and also compare our results to pre-launch ground testing, and to laboratory accelerated aging testing of similar lamps. We find that the STIS LINE lamp has faded by a factor of ∼15 in the very short FUV wavelengths (1150-1200Å) over the 13-year period on which STIS was in space, a much steeper fading than predicted from accelerated aging tests in the laboratory. We also find that all STIS lamps have faded during the period in which the spectrograph was not operational (2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)) thus pointing to on-orbit conditions as an additional and important cause of lamp fading. We report that the COS P1 lamp output appears to decline with usage with a similar slope as the LINE and HITM1 lamps on STIS. Finally, we recommend switching from the LINE to the HITM2 lamp for a more efficient wavelength calibration of the STIS settings covering the very short FUV wavelengths.
STIS Cycle 7 Calibration Close-out Report
The status and results of the Cycle 7 calibration program for the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) are presented, based on more than two years of on-orbit calibration observations.
The On-Orbit Performance of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
2010
The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in May 2009 as part of the most recent Servicing Mission 4. COS is a fourth-generation instrument that has significantly extended HST UV spectroscopic capabilities. This paper highlights the current instrument performance, with particular emphasis on the initial on-orbit characterization during the Servicing Mission Observatory Verification (SMOV) and the subsequent calibration during Cycle 17. Plans for future improvements in the COS on-orbit calibration are also included.
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Investigation Definition Team
1997
Visual and ultraviolet spatially resolved ( ∼ 0. ′ ′ 1) spectra of SN 1987A obtained on days 3715 and 3743 with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope show that the high-velocity SN debris is colliding 1 Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, obtained at the Space Telescope
Publications of The Astronomical Society of The Pacific, 2005
We present the photometric calibration of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). The ACS was installed in the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 2002 March. It comprises three cameras: the Wide Field Channel (WFC), optimized for deep near-IR survey imaging programs; the High Resolution Channel (HRC), a high-resolution imager that fully samples the HST point-spread function (PSF) in the visible; and the Solar Blind Channel (SBC), a far-UV imager. A significant amount of data has been collected to characterize the on-orbit performance of the three channels. We give here an overview of the performance and calibration of the two CCD cameras (WFC and HRC) and a description of the best techniques for reducing ACS CCD data. The overall performance is as expected from prelaunch testing of the camera. Surprises were a better-than-predicted sensitivity in the visible and near-IR for both the WFC and HRC and an unpredicted dip in the HRC UV response at ~3200 Å. On-orbit observations of spectrophotometric standard stars have been used to revise the prelaunch estimate of the instrument response curves to best match predicted and observed count rates. Synthetic photometry has been used to determine zero points for all filters in three magnitude systems and to derive interstellar extinction values for the ACS photometric systems. Due to the CCD internal scattering of long-wavelength photons, the width of the PSF increases significantly in the near-IR, and the aperture correction for photometry with near-IR filters depends on the spectral energy distribution of the source. We provide a detailed recipe to correct for the latter effect. Transformations between the ACS photometric systems and the UBVRI and WFPC2 systems are presented. In general, two sets of transformations are available: one based on the observation of two star clusters; the other on synthetic photometry. We discuss the accuracy of these transformations and their sensitivity to details of the spectra being transformed. Initial signs of detector degradation due to the HST radiative environment are already visible. We discuss the impact on the data in terms of dark rate increase, charge transfer inefficiency, and ``hot'' pixel population.
IGARSS 2018 - 2018 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2018
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE), located in Huntsville, Alabama, USA, cooperate to develop and operate the new space-based hyperspectral sensor DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS). While TBE provides the MultiUser platform MUSES and infrastructure for operation of the DESIS instrument on the ISS, DLR is responsible for providing the instrument and the processing software as well as instrument in-flight calibration and product quality operations. MUSES has been already launched and installed on the International Space Station ISS in early 2017 and DESIS will follow mid of 2018. We present here an overview of the DESIS instrument, the on-ground data processing, the in-flight calibration and product quality investigations.