Cosmic Origins Spectrograph: Servicing Mission Observatory Verification Overview

Computer Science – Performance

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) was installed onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in May, 2009 as part of the most recent servicing mission (SM4). COS is optimized for observing faint point sources at moderate spectral resolutions and is the most sensitive UV spectrograph ever flown on HST. The FUV channel, which is 10 to 30 times more sensitive than STIS, covers the wavelength range from 1150 to 1800 A with medium resolution gratings (G130M/G160M) and from 900 to 2400 A. with a low resolution grating (G140L). The medium resolution gratings in the NUV channel (G185M/G225M/G285M) cover 1700 to 3200 A., while the low resolution grating (G230L) covers 1700 to 3200 A.
As part of the overall HST Servicing Mission Observatory Verification (SMOV), COS on-orbit functionality was verified via an extensive set of 34 observing programs comprising nearly 2800 individual exposures. We present a thorough discussion of the organization, inter-relationships, and dependencies of the programs in the verification plan.
Sequential activities were executed that concentrated on the general areas of initial instrument checkout; detector HV turn-on and operation; initial detector characterization; NUV focus and alignment; FUV focus and alignment; initial target acquisition verification; wavelength calibration; and thorough target acquisition assessment, all leading to enabling of basic science functionality. Finally science-related calibrations and verifications were performed including flux calibration, flat field characterization, spectroscopic performance verification, high S/N operation, and thermal and structural stability measurements. Several companion presentations describe results from specific programs and verification areas in more detail.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Cosmic Origins Spectrograph: Servicing Mission Observatory Verification Overview does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Cosmic Origins Spectrograph: Servicing Mission Observatory Verification Overview, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cosmic Origins Spectrograph: Servicing Mission Observatory Verification Overview will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1887144

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.