A sounding Rocket Mission to Study the Solar Soft X-Ray and EUV Emission Using Transition-Edge sensor Technology

Published

August 1, 2000

Author(s)

K Wamba, H Walker, Aaron J. Miller, B. Cabrera, D W. Robertson, P F. Boerner, D S. Martinez-Galarce, S F. Powell, Sae Woo Nam, Kent D. Irwin, Steven Deiker, R B. Hoover, T W. Barbee, P F. Baker

Abstract

We are developing a new sounding rocket payload, the Advanced Technology Solar Spectroscopic Imager (ATSSI) that will use an 8x8 array of transition edge sensors (TES) to obtain true spectroheliograms in a spectral bandpass spanning 10 eV to 3 keV. The TES array will be flown at the focus of a Wolter I telescope, where it will image a 3 arc min by 3 arc min field of view with a pixel resolution of 6 arc second. In this way, it will obtain 1000 individual spectra with an expected average spectral energy resolution of 3 eV FWHM. In addition to the TES array, the ATSSI will employ six multilayer telescopes with bandpasses centered on atomic lines at 727 eV (Fe XVII), 64 eV (Fe XII), 73 eV (Fe IX), 214 eV (Mg X), 127 eV (Ne VIII), and 83 eV (0 VI). Two additional telescopes with bandpasses centered at 8 eV (C IV) and 10 eV (H I) will also be used. The eight narrowband telescopes will provide high spatial resolution (less then or equal to} 1 arc sec), full-disk solar images and will be complemented by two grating slit spectroheliographs. One grating will obtain high resolution spectroheliograms between 2750 E and 2850 E (for Mg II h- and k-line studies), and the other will be multilayer based and will probe the Fe IX/X - O V/VI complex around 171 E (73) eV). With this set of instruments, we expect to explore more fully the nature of the energy flow between small-scale coronal, chromospheric and transition region structures, as well as to address the issue of what mechanisms are responsible for heating the quiescent solar atmosphere.

Proceedings Title

Proc. Intl. Soc. for Optical Engineering (SPIE)X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XI

Volume

4140

Conference Dates

August 1-4, 2000

Conference Location

San Diego, CA, USA

Pub Type

Conferences

Keywords

cryogenic calorimeters, EUV detectors, EUV spectroscopy, solar chromosphere, solar corona, transitin-edge sensors

Citation

Wamba, K. , Walker, H. , Miller, A. , Cabrera, B. , Robertson, D. , Boerner, P. , Martinez-Galarce, D. , Powell, S. , Nam, S. , Irwin, K. , Deiker, S. , Hoover, R. , Barbee, T. and Baker, P. (2000), A sounding Rocket Mission to Study the Solar Soft X-Ray and EUV Emission Using Transition-Edge sensor Technology, Proc. Intl. Soc. for Optical Engineering (SPIE)X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XI, San Diego, CA, USA (Accessed December 13, 2024)