Instrumental artifacts: stray and scattered light in the Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope

Computer Science – Performance

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The scientific goals of the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) require data of very high integrity, with high S/N, spectral resolution, wavelength calibration and photometric accuracy. The instrument was designed to have optical, structural, thermal and detector performance capable of delivering nearly photon limited ultraviolet spectra. Many important characteristics such as geometrical formats, sensitivity functions, resolving power and linearity were predicted from design specifications, and were tested and verified. Instrumental properties which may limit the ultimate performance, such as stray light, distortions and geometrical instabilities were anticipated but not precisely modeled. A careful test program, comprising several distinct pre- and post-launch phases identified, characterized and in several cases eliminated potentially troublesome aspects. In the spirit of 'lessons learned' this paper describes a number of optical and detector related artifacts, how they were identified and measured, and either eliminated by reworking the hardware, or calibrated and compensated for during data reduction. Builders of future instruments should be aware of the types of anomalies we encountered so they may be avoided in the design phases, or well calibrated in the testing phase. We will discuss aspects of the testing programs, both technical and programmatic, which contributed to the successful commissioning of the GHRS and its current return of high quality spectroscopic data.

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

Instrumental artifacts: stray and scattered light in the Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope 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 Instrumental artifacts: stray and scattered light in the Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Instrumental artifacts: stray and scattered light in the Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-815318

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