Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jun 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006spd....37.0614o&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, SPD meeting #37, #6.14
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
One of the objectives of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is the determination of the flow of interstellar neutral oxygen through the inner heliosphere. From the direction of the flow in Earth's orbit and its directional distribution the deceleration and heating of oxygen through charge exchange interaction at the heliospheric boundary can be deduced in comparison with the well characterized interstellar helium flow, which reflects the pristine interstellar parameters. For this comparison a precise determination of the flow direction of the neutrals in relation to celestial coordinates is needed. To facilitate this a small star sensor is integrated into the IBEX-lo sensor, which will determine the interstellar O flow. The star sensor consists of photo multiplier with a broken-V and pinhole aperture combination, which uses the timing of star passages to determine the azimuth and elevation of these stars relative to the spacecraft spin. With the star sensor co-aligned with the neutral atom camera bore sight, the orientation of the sensor axis will be determined to better than +-0.2 degrees relative to the stars. A prototype of the star sensor has been successfully tested in the auroral imaging laboratory at UNH. A dynamic range from lower than magnitude +4 to -4 with excellent angular resolution has been demonstrated. The implementation and testing of the flight model for the IBEX mission with a launch in June 2008 is underway.
Borrelli Massimo
Clark George
Granoff M.
IBEX Team
Kucharek Harald
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