65 research outputs found
SWAP onboard PROBA 2, a new EUV imager for solar monitoring
No full textSWAP (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel system detector and image processing) is a solar imager in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) that has been selected to fly in 2007 on the PROBA 2 technological platform, an ESA program. SWAP will use an off-axis Ritchey Chrétien telescope equipped with an EUV enhanced active pixel sensor detector (coated APS). This type of detector has advantages that promise to be very profitable for solar EUV imaging. SWAP will provide solar coronal images at a 1-min cadence in a bandpass centered on 17.5 nm. Observations with this specific wavelength allow detecting phenomena, such as solar flares or EIT-waves, associated with the early phase of coronal mass ejections. Image processing software will be developed that automatically detects these phenomena and sends out space weather warnings. Together with its sister instrument LYRA, also onboard PROBA 2, SWAP will serve as a high performance solar monitoring tool to be used in operational space weather forecasting. The SWAP data will complement the solar observations provided by instruments like SOHO-EIT, and STEREO-SECCHI
SWAP: Sun watcher using APS detector on-board PROBA-2, a new EUV off-axis telescope on a technology demonstration platform
No full textSWAP (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing) is an instrument that has been selected to fly on the PROBA-II technology demonstration platform, a program of the European Space Agency (ESA) to be launched in 2006. This paper presents the instrument concept and its scientific goals. SWAP uses an off-axis Ritchey Chretien telescope that will image the EUV solar corona at 19.5 nm on a specifically fabricated extreme ultraviolet (EUV) sensitivity enhanced CMOS APS detector. This type of detector has advantages that promise to be very profitable for solar EUV imaging. The SWAP design is built on a similar concept as the MAGRITTE instrument suite for the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission to be launched in 2007. The optics have been adapted to the detector size. The SWAP PROBA-2 program will be an opportunity to demonstrate and validate the optical concept of MAGRITTE, while it will also validate space remote sensing with APS detectors. On the science outcomes, SWAP will provide solar corona images in the Fe XII line on a baselined 1-min cadence. Observations with this specific wavelength allow detecting phenomena, such as solar flares or 'EIT-waves", associated with the early phase of coronal mass ejections. Image recognition software will be developed that automatically detects these phenomena and sends out space weather warnings. Different modules of this software will run both on the ground system as well as on the onboard computer of PROBA II. The SWAP data will complement the observations provided by SOHO-EIT, and STEREO-SECCHI
Lessons Learned from the Thermal Design of an Instrument (EIT, The Extreme-UV Imaging Telescope) on Board SOHO
No full textA gas micromechanical sensor based on surface plasmon resonance
No full textpeer reviewedWe will present a new concept related to the micromechanical sensors for detecting the presence and concentration of chemical substances and/or biological organisms. A bi-dimensional array of micro-cantilever coated by different types of sensing layer enables to identify a characteristic chemical composition of the gas in real-time mode. The selective molecular absorption by cantilever sensing layer will produce cantilever bending proportional to the concentration of molecules. To increase the gas sensor sensitivity, the SPR phenomenon is used for cantilever deflection monitoring
Towards a New Formation Flying Solar Coronagraph
No full textInternational audienceWe briefly describe an investigation aiming at the development of a giant solar coronagraph instrument onboard of two satellites, separated by about 150 m in formation flight for the detailed observation of the solar coronal plasma. The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected this instrument as the only payload onboard the Proba 3 satellites which will be launched in 2013. The Greek team is developing the command control board of the coronagraph
Optical design of the Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) of INTEGRAL
No full textThe Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) will observe the optical
emission from the main targets of the gamma-ray instruments onboard the ESA
mission INTEGRAL. The OMC is based on a refractive optics with an aperture
of 50 mm focused onto a large format CCD ( pixels), and a
field of view of 5\degr\times5\degr. This paper describes the design of the
optical system and the optical baffles of the OMC.
A far infrared/terahertz micromechanical sensor based on surface plasmons resonance
No full textpeer reviewedThis paper describes a new concept related to the bolometric micromechanical sensors for detecting far IR and THz
radiation. We believe that this concept permits a low cost and ease of fabrication of large bi-dimensional array of sensors
with an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio. The micromechanical sensor comprises a thermo-sensitive bi-material (multimaterial)
micro-cantilever beam with a selective absorber dedicated to far IR and THz radiation energy, and optical
readout system based on surface plasmon resonance for detecting the bending of the micro-cantilever element. To
increase the radiation detector sensitivity, the SPR phenomenon is used for cantilever deflection monitoring
CMOS-APS Detectors for Solar Physics: Lessons Learned during the SWAP Preflight Calibration
No full textpeer reviewe
Corotating interaction regions as seen by the STEREO Heliospheric Imagers 2007 – 2010
No full textT.M. Conlon and A.O. Williams were supported by an STFC, UK studentship and S.E. Milan was supported by STFC grant ST/K001000/1. Date of Acceptance: 08/08/2015NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) mission has coincided with a pronounced solar minimum. This allowed for easier detection of corotating interaction regions (CIRs). CIRs are formed by the interaction between fast and slow solar-wind streams ejected from source regions on the solar surface that rotate with the Sun. High-density plasma blobs that have become entrained at the stream interface can be tracked out to large elongations in data from the Heliospheric Imager (HI) instruments onboard STEREO. These blobs act as tracers of the CIR itself such that their HI signatures can be used to estimate CIR source location and radial speed. We estimate the kinematic properties of solar-wind transients associated with 40 CIRs detected by the HI instrument onboard the STEREO-A spacecraft between 2007 and 2010. We identify in-situ signatures of these transients at L1 using the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and compare the in-situ parameters with the HI results. We note that solar-wind transients associated with CIRs appear to travel at or close to the slow solar-wind speed preceding the event as measured in situ. We also highlight limitations in the commonly used analysis techniques of solar-wind transients by considering variability in the solar wind.Peer reviewe
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