Hubble Space Telescope: Cosmic Origins Spectrograph FUV detector initial on-orbit performance

Jason B. McPhate; Oswald H. Siegmund; John V. Vallerga; David J. Sahnow; Thomas B. Ake; Steven V. Penton; Kevin France; Derck Massa; Steven N. Osterman; Stéphane Béland; Stephan R. McCandliss

doi:10.1117/12.858211

29 July 2010 Hubble Space Telescope: Cosmic Origins Spectrograph FUV detector initial on-orbit performance

Jason B. McPhate, Oswald H. Siegmund, John V. Vallerga, David J. Sahnow, Thomas B. Ake, Steven V. Penton, Kevin France, Derck Massa, Steven N. Osterman, Stéphane Béland, Stephan R. McCandliss

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7732, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 77322H (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.858211
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in May 2009 during Servicing Mission 4 (SM4). This paper discusses the initial on-orbit performance of the HST-COS far ultraviolet (FUV) detector designed and built by the Experimental Astrophysics Group at the Univ. of California, Berkeley. The HST-COS FUV detector is an open face, photon counting, microchannel plate (MCP) based device employing a cross delay line (XDL) readout. The detector consists of two separate, end-to-end segments (2x 85mm x 10mm - 179mm x 10mm total with a gap between segments), each digitized within a 16384x1024 space. The input surface is curved to match the Rowland circle of HST-COS. The CsI photocathode and open face nature result in sensitivity from <900Å to ~1750Å. Spatial resolution is approximately 25-30μm. Comparisons of on-orbit behavior relative to expectations from ground testing are performed. Areas of discussion include background (rate and morphology), sensitivity (system throughput and short wavelength response), and imaging performance (apparent spatial resolution and flat field fixed pattern). A measured increase in the MCP gain relative to ground testing is also discussed.

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Jason B. McPhate, Oswald H. Siegmund, John V. Vallerga, David J. Sahnow, Thomas B. Ake, Steven V. Penton, Kevin France, Derck Massa, Steven N. Osterman, Stéphane Béland, and Stephan R. McCandliss "Hubble Space Telescope: Cosmic Origins Spectrograph FUV detector initial on-orbit performance", Proc. SPIE 7732, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 77322H (29 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.858211

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