PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars)1 is the M3 class ESA mission dedicated to the discovery
and study of extrasolar planetary systems by means of planetary transits detection. PLATO Payload Camera
units are integrated and vibrated at CSL before being TVAC tested for thermal acceptance and performance
verification at 3 different test facilities (SRON, IAS and INTA). 15 of the 26 Flight Cameras were integrated,
tested and delivered to ESA for integration by the Prime between June 2023 and June 2024, with the remaining
flight units to be tested by the end of 2024. In this paper, we provide an overview of our serial testing approach,
some of the associated challenges, key performance results and an up-to-date status on the remaining planned
activities.
The ESA mission Solar Orbiter was successfully launched in February 2020. The Photospheric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) provides measurements of the photospheric solar magnetic field and line of sight velocities at high solar latitudes with high polarimetric accuracy. The required pointing precision is achieved by an image stabilisation system (ISS) that compensates for spacecraft jitter. The ISS consists of a high-speed correlation tracker camera (CTC) and a fast steerable tip-tilt mirror operated in closed loop. We will present the results of the calibration measurements and performance tests from ground measurements, during commissioning and science phase. In addition, the correlation tracker was used to directly measure the pointing stability of the satellite.
The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter space mission has been successfully launched in February 2020. Onboard is the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI), which has two telescopes, a High Resolution Telescope (HRT) and the Full Disc Telescope (FDT). The instrument is designed to infer the photospheric magnetic field and line-of-sight velocity through differential imaging of the polarised light emitted by the Sun. It calculates the full Stokes vector at 6 wavelength positions at the Fe I 617.3nm absorption line. Due to telemetry constraints, the instrument nominally processes these Stokes profiles onboard, however when telemetry is available, the raw images are downlinked and reduced on ground. Here the architecture of the on-ground pipeline for HRT is presented, which also offers additional corrections not currently available on board the instrument. The pipeline can reduce raw images to the full Stokes vector with a polarimetric sensitivity of 10−3 · Ic or better.
PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is a European Space Agency medium class mission, whose launch is foreseen for 2026. Its primary goal is to discover and characterise terrestrial exoplanets orbiting the habitable zone of their host stars. This goal will be reached with a set of 26 wide field-of-view cameras mounted on a common optical bench. Here we show some results of the first cryogenic vacuum test campaign made on the Engineering Model (EM) of one PLATO camera, performed at the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON). In particular we present the search for the best focus temperature, which was done first by using a Hartmann mask, and then by maximizing the ensquared energy fractions of the point spread functions (PSFs) on the entire field of view taken at different temperature plateaus. Furthermore we present the PSF properties of the EM at the nominal focus temperature over all the field of view, focusing on the ensquared energy fractions. The Engineering Model camera was successfully integrated and validated under cryo-vacuum tests, allowing the mission to pass ESA’s Critical Milestone, and confirming the mission is on track for launch in 2026.
The High Resolution Telescope (HRT) of the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI) on-board the Solar Orbiter mission (SO) provides near diffraction limited observations of the solar surface. The HRT Refocus Mechanism (HRM) allows for acquiring calibration data in flight which are used in post processing on ground to estimate the image quality of SO/PHI-HRT data products and its dependence on the SO-Sun distance. Our aim is to characterise the wavefront aberrations in the optical path of SO/PHI-HRT and consequently the image quality in the focal plane of the telescope. We use calibration data taken during the Near Earth Commissionning Phase (NECP) and the second Remote Sensing Check-out Window (RSCW2) of Solar Orbiter’s Cruise Phase (CP). In particular, we apply a Phase Diversity (PD) analysis to estimate the low-order wavefront aberrations. The restoration with the retrieved Point Spread Function (PSF) from the PD analysis increases the RMS contrast of the solar granulation in the visible continuum from 4 % to 10−11%.
We describe the performances of a novel Doppler imager, aimed to detect acoustic oscillations and atmospheric dynamics at the surface of giant planets of the Solar System in the frame of the JOVIAL (Jovian Oscillations detection by Velocity Imaging At several Longitudes) project. The first JOVIAL instrument was installed on the 188cm telescope at Okayama branch of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) in April 2019. This instrument is a part of a ground based network of three identical instruments installed on telescopes around the world for continuous observations. First observations of Jupiter with the JOVIAL instrument were achieved in June 2019. We describe the instrument principle, its design and the set-up at Okayama observatory, as well as the performances reached during the first observing run. We finally provide plans for future observations with the network.
Solar Orbiter is a joint mission of ESA and NASA scheduled for launch in 2020. Solar Orbiter is a complete and unique heliophysics mission, combining remote sensing and in-situ analysis; its special elliptical orbit allows viewing the Sun from a distance of only 0.28 AU, and - leaving the ecliptic plane - to observe the solar poles from a hitherto unexplored vantage point. One of the key instruments for Solar Orbiter’s science is the "Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager" (PHI), which will provide maps of the solar surface magnetic fields and the gas flows on the visible solar surface. Two telescopes, a full disc imager, and a high resolution channel feed a common Fabry-Perot based tunable filter and thus allow sampling a single Fraunhofer line at 617.3 nm with high spectral resolution; a polarization modulation system makes the system sensitive to the full state of polarization. From the analysis of the Doppler shift and the magnetically induced Zeeman polarization in this line, the magnetic field and the line-of-sight gas motions can be detected for each point in the image. In this paper we describe the opto-mechanical system design of the high resolution telescope. It is based on a decentred Ritchey-Chrétien two-mirror telescope. The telescope includes a Barlow type magnifier lens group, which is used as in-orbit focus compensator, and a beam splitter, which sends a small fraction of the collected light onto a fast camera, which provides the error signals for the actively controlled secondary mirror compensating for spacecraft jitter and other disturbances. The elliptical orbit of the spacecraft poses high demands on the thermo-mechanical
stability. The varying size of the solar disk image requires a special false-light suppression architecture, which is briefly described. In combination with a heat-rejecting entrance window, the optical energy impinging on the polarimetric and spectral analysis system is efficiently reduced. We show how the design can preserve the diffraction-limited imaging performance over the design temperature range of -20°C to +60°C. The decentred hyperbolical mirrors require special measures for the inter-alignment and their alignment with respect to the mechanical structure. A system of alignment flats and mechanical references is used for this purpose. We will describe the steps of the alignment procedure, and the dedicated optical ground support equipment, which are needed to reach the diffraction limited performance of the telescope. We will also report on the verification of the telescope performance, both - in ambient condition - and in vacuum at different temperatures.
The understanding of the solar outer atmosphere requires a simultaneous combination of imaging and spectral observations concerning the far UV lines that arise from the high chromospheres up to the corona. These observations must be performed with enough spectral, spatial and temporal resolution to reveal the small atmospheric structures and to resolve the solar dynamics. An Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer working in the far-UV (IFTSUV, Figure 1) is an attractive instrumental solution to fulfill these requirements. However, due to the short wavelength, to preserve IFTSUV spectral precision and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) requires a high optical surface quality and a very accurate (linear and angular) metrology to maintain the optical path difference (OPD) during the entire scanning process by: optical path difference sampling trigger; and dynamic alignment for tip/tilt compensation (Figure 2).
Echoes is a project of a spaceborne Doppler Spectro-Imager (DSI) which has been proposed as payload to the JUICE mission project selected in the Cosmic Vision program of the European Space Agency (ESA). It is a Fourier transform spectrometer which measures phase shifts in the interference patterns induced by Doppler shifts of spectral lines reflected at the surface of the planet. Dedicated to the seismology of Jupiter, the instrument is designed to analyze the periodic movements induced by internal acoustic modes of the planet. It will allow the knowledge of the internal structure of Jupiter, in particular of the central region, which is essential for the comprehension of the scenario of the giant planets’ formation. The optical design is based on a modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer operating in the visible domain and takes carefully into account the sensitivity of the optical path difference to the temperature. The instrument produces simultaneously four images in quadrature which allows the measurement of the phase without being contaminated by the continuum component of the incident light. We expect a noise level less than 1 cm2s-2µHz-1 in the frequency range [0.5 -10] mHz. In this paper, we present the prototype implemented at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (OCA) in collaboration with Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS) to study the real performances in laboratory and to demonstrate the capability to reach the required Technology Readiness Level 5.
The measurements of radial velocity fields on planets with a Doppler Spectro-Imager allow the study of atmospheric dynamics of giant planets and the detection of their acoustic oscillations. The frequencies of these oscillations lead to the determination of the internal structure by asteroseismology. A new imaging tachometer, based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, has been developed to monitor the Doppler shift of solar lines reflected at the surface of the planets. We present the principle of this instrument. A prototype was designed and built, following the specifications of a future space mission. The performance of the prototype, both at the laboratory and on the sky, is presented here.
The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) on board of Solar Orbiter will observe the Sun to measure the photospheric vector magnetic field and the line-of-sight velocity. It will employ a narrowband filtergraph (FG) to scan the FeI 6173 Å absorption line. At different spectral positions, the polarization state of the incoming light will be analyzed. The FG will provide a tuning range to scan the line, the continuum, and to compensate for the spacecraft radial velocity, as it will approach to the Sun down to 0.28 AU. The FG includes a Fabry-Perot etalon and two narrowband prefilters. The bandpass of the narrowest one has a nominal Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of 2.7 Å. The measurement of the prefilters characteristics is essential for the instrument calibration. Here we present the results of the breadboard prefilters characterization, which is an important milestone in the development of the instrument.
SPICE is a high resolution imaging spectrometer operating at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths, 70.4 – 79.0 nm and 97.3 -
104.9 nm. It is a facility instrument on the Solar Orbiter mission. SPICE will address the key science goals of Solar
Orbiter by providing the quantitative knowledge of the physical state and composition of the plasmas in the solar
atmosphere, in particular investigating the source regions of outflows and ejection processes which link the solar surface
and corona to the heliosphere. By observing the intensities of selected spectral lines and line profiles, SPICE will derive
temperature, density, flow and composition information for the plasmas in the temperature range from 10,000 K to
10MK. The instrument optics consists of a single-mirror telescope (off-axis paraboloid operating at near-normal
incidence), feeding an imaging spectrometer. The spectrometer is also using just one optical element, a Toroidal Variable
Line Space grating, which images the entrance slit from the telescope focal plane onto a pair of detector arrays, with a
magnification of approximately x5. Each detector consists of a photocathode coated microchannel plate image
intensifier, coupled to active-pixel-sensor (APS). Particular features of the instrument needed due to proximity to the Sun
include: use of dichroic coating on the mirror to transmit and reject the majority of the solar spectrum, particle-deflector
to protect the optics from the solar wind, and use of data compression due to telemetry limitations.
Echoes is a project of a space-borne instrument which has been proposed as part of the JUICE mission which is selected
in the Cosmic Vision program of the European Space Agency (ESA) to perform seismic and dynamics studies
of Jupiter's interior and atmosphere. Based on an original Mach-Zehnder design, the instrument aims to measure Doppler
shifts of solar spectral lines, which are reflected by cloud layers of Jupiter's upper troposphere, coupled with imaging
capabilities. It is specified to detect global oscillations with degree up to l = 50 and amplitude as low as 1 cm/s at the
surface of Jupiter. In order to check the compliance of the instrument, and its capability to operate in representative
environment (TRL5), we build a prototype to perform tests. In this paper, we present the prototype implemented
at Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in collaboration with Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale. We describe the design of the
Mach-Zehnder and the procedure of control and adjustment. We present the necessary tests and we show on simulation
that the measurements will provide the required precision. In conclusion, we will explain the perspective for such a new
instrument.
The Solar Orbiter mission will explore the connection between the Sun and its heliosphere, taking advantage of an orbit
approaching the Sun at 0.28 AU. As part of this mission, the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) will provide full-sun and
high-resolution image sequences of the solar atmosphere at selected spectral emission lines in the extreme and vacuum
ultraviolet.
To achieve the required scientific performances under the challenging constraints of the Solar Orbiter mission it was
required to further develop existing technologies. As part of this development, and of its maturation of technology
readiness, a set of breadboard and prototypes of critical subsystems have thus been realized to improve the overall
instrument design.
The EUI instrument architecture, its major components and sub-systems are described with their driving constraints and
the expected performances based on the breadboard and prototype results. The instrument verification and qualification
plan will also be discussed. We present the thermal and mechanical model validation, the instrument test campaign with
the structural-thermal model (STM), followed by the other instrument models in advance of the flight instrument
manufacturing and AIT campaign.
The spectroscopy of the far UV emission lines of the solar spectrum combined with an imaging capability is essential to
understand the physics of the outer solar atmosphere. An imaging Fourier transform spectrometer (IFTSUV) is an
attractive instrumental solution to perform such far-UV solar observations. Working in the far UV involves high
precision metrology to maintain the optical path difference (OPD) during the entire scanning process of the
interferogram. It also involves a compact all-reflection design for UV applications. We present the specification of a
servo-system that enables dynamic tip/tilt alignment compensation and OPD sampling measurement of the IFTSUV
scanning mirror. We also discuss the first experimental results of a breadboard as well as the preliminary design of a
space-based device.
Fourier transform spectrometry allows us to detect small Doppler velocity shifts of spectral lines by measuring phase
shifts of their associated interference patterns. In this paper, we present the project of space-borne Doppler Spectro
Imager (DSI), Echoes, dedicated to Jovian seismology and aeronomy, which is proposed as payload to the JUICE
mission project (ex-EJSM/Laplace), which competes in the Cosmic Vision program of the European Space Agency
(ESA). The instrumental principle inherits from the ground based experiment SYMPA (Schmider et al, 2007, Gaulme et
al, 2008): it is a Mach-Zehnder interferometer working in the visible domain that is sensitive to Doppler shifts of solar
spectral lines reflected on the planetary atmosphere. It aims to detect small periodic movements of Jupiter's upper
troposphere generated by internal acoustic modes, and to measure their temporal frequencies and spatial geometry. Such
measurement would bring unprecedented knowledge on the internal structure of Jupiter, especially on the central region,
and would provide unique constraints on giant planet formation models. We are currently realizing a prototype to
measure the real instrumental performance in laboratory and to demonstrate the capacity to reach the Technology
Readiness Level 5. We describe the experimental set-up and the expected results.
Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer working in the far UV (IFTSUV) may be the technical solution to
answer many unsolved problems concerning the physics of the solar outer atmosphere. The VUV domain
highly constrains the instruments design and performances as it demands a high optics surface quality and an
accurate metrology to preserve IFTSUV spectral precision and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). We present the
advancements on the specification of a metrology system, meeting the predicted performance requirements of
an IFTSUV.
The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) onboard Solar Orbiter consists of a suite of two high-resolution imagers (HRI)
and one dual-band full Sun imager (FSI) that will provide EUV and Lyman-α images of the solar atmospheric layers
above the photosphere.
The EUI instrument is based on a set of challenging new technologies allowing to reach the scientific objectives and to
cope with the hard space environment of the Solar Orbiter mission.
The mechanical concept of the EUI instrument is based on a common structure supporting the HRI and FSI channels,
and a separated electronic box. A heat rejection baffle system is used to reduce the Sun heat load and provide a first
protection level against the solar disk straylight. The spectral bands are selected by thin filters and multilayer mirror
coatings. The detectors are 10μm pitch back illuminated CMOS Active Pixel Sensors (APS), best suited for the EUI
science requirements and radiation hardness.
This paper presents the EUI instrument concept and its major sub-systems. The current developments of the instrument
technologies are also summarized.
The study of the outer solar atmosphere requires combining imaging and spectroscopy in the UV lines formed
in the high chromosphere, the transition region and the corona. We start from the science requirements and we
define the instrumental specifications in terms of field-of-view (FOV), spatial, temporal and spectral resolution
and bandpass. We propose two different all-reflection optical architectures based on interferometric techniques:
Spatial Heterodyne Spectroscopy (SHS); and Imaging Transform Spectrometer (IFTS). We describe the different
set-ups and compare the potential performances of the two types of solutions, and discuss their feasibility. We
conclude that IFTS appears to be the best solution, meeting the needs of UV solar physics. However, we point
out the many difficulties to be encountered, especially as far as metrology is concerned.
We present our work on the spectral analyser of the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) instrument to
be flown aboard ESA's Solar Orbiter mission. We detail the choices that were made to determine the concept
of the spectral analyser, a Lithium Niobate Fabry-Perot interferometer, and its characteristics, as to fulfil both
scientific needs and technical requirements. We will present the first experimental results - including stability,
repeatability, parallelism, spectral homogeneity and imaging capability - on an air-spaced piezoelectric-tunable
etalon, which is the backup solution for PHI.
Orbiting around the Sun on an inclined orbit with a 0.2 UA perihelion, the Solar Orbiter probe will provide high resolution views of the Sun from various angles unattainable from Earth. Together with a set of high resolution imagers, the Full Sun Imager is part of the EUV Imaging suite of the Solar Orbiter mission. The mission's ambitious characteristics draw severe constraints on the design of these instruments. We present a photometrically efficient, compact, and lightweight design for the Full Sun Imager. With a 5 degrees field of view, this telescope will be able to see the global solar coronal structure from high viewing angles. Thermal solutions reducing the maximum power trapped in the High Resolution Imagers are also proposed.
Solar ultraviolet imaging instruments in space pose most demanding requirements on their detectors in terms of dynamic range, low noise, high speed, and high resolution. Yet UV detectors used on missions presently in space have major drawbacks limiting their performance and stability. In view of future solar space missions we have started the development of new imaging array devices based on wide band gap materials (WBGM), for which the expected benefits of the new sensors - primarily visible blindness and radiation hardness - will be highly valuable. Within this initiative, called “Blind to Optical Light Detectors (BOLD)”, we have investigated devices made of AlGa-nitrides and diamond. We present results of the responsivity measurements extending from the visible down to extreme UV wavelengths. We discuss the possible benefits of these new devices and point out ways to build new imaging arrays for future space missions.
BOLD (Blind to the Optical Light Detectors) is an international initiative dedicated to the development of novel imaging detectors for UV solar observations. It relies on the properties of wide bandgap materials (in particular diamond and Al-Ga-nitrides). The investigation is proposed in view of the Solar Orbiter (S.O.) UV instruments, for which the expected benefits of the new sensors -primarily visible blindness and radiation hardness- will be highly valuable. Despite various advances in the technology of imaging detectors over the last decades, the present UV imagers based on silicon CCDs or microchannel plates exhibit limitations inherent to their actual material and technology. Yet, the utmost spatial resolution, fast temporal cadence, sensitivity, and photometric accuracy will be decisive for the forthcoming solar space missions. The advent of imagers based on wide-bandgap materials will permit new observations and, by simplifying their design, cheaper instruments. As for the Solar Orbiter, the aspiration for wide-bandgap material (WBGM) based UV detectors is still more sensible because the spacecraft will approach the Sun where the heat and the radiation fluxes are high. We describe the motivations, and present the program to achieve revolutionary flight cameras within the Solar Orbiter schedule as well as relevant UV measurements.
Five types of Schott glass (GG435, GG455, GG475, BG18, and BG38) have been irradiated up to 1 Mrad using 1.2-MeV γ rays from a Co60 source. The effect of the irradiation on the transmittance of the glasses was studied as a function of the dose for wavelengths up to 800 nm. Three parameters are used to describe the increase of the optical thickness: the saturation coefficient in inverse millimeters, the slope in inverse kilorads times inverse millimeters, and the saturation speed in kilorads; they are given as a function of wavelength. For each glass, a single color center could explain the increase in the optical thickness. This single color center creates three Gaussian-shaped absorption bands that apply to both the saturation coefficient and the slope; the energy, the full width at half maximum, and the amplitude of these bands are given. The data can be used either by an engineer for predicting radiation damage and for choosing the best glass for a given application or by a scientist interested in solid state physics. Guidelines for minimizing the effect of radiation on glass are given and applied to a space experiment to be flown in 1995 on the European Space Agency/National Aeronautics and Space Agency (ESA/NASA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft.
A multilayer filter, that will fly on the SOHO mission, has been designed to resist 3 - 4 major solar flares. This paper reports on the effects of the simulated solar flare on the glasses and filters. For the color filter glasses, transmittance drops could be up to 18% at 500 nm, for the 7-year simulated test, while for the heat absorbing glasses it was a few %. The filter transmittance dropped relatively by 2.6% and 15%, for the 2-year and 7- year doses, respectively. In most cases the filter profiles were slightly affected. The effect of the irradiations on the coatings, the adhesive and the glasses is discussed. Guidelines for minimizing effect of irradiations on coatings and glasses are given.
Temperature distributions inside multilayer filters are often required to assess performance. This subject is rarely treated in the literature. Guidelines were developed that can be used to calculate a thermal model for various applications. Data such as the optical and physical properties of glass and coatings are required to build the model. Calculations can be performed with available thermal analysis software packages. In this study the guidelines are applied to an optical filter. This filter, which is not actively thermally controlled, is the front element in a space experiment devoted to the observation of solar intensity fluctuations. Temperature distributions were calculated for different designs using ESA software (ESATAN). The final design described here minimizes temperature gradients, as well as degradation effects due to UV and particle radiation. The effect of space exposure on temperature distributions inside the filter is also addressed.
The temperature dependence of photodiodes quantum efficiency for different processes (deep diffused and ion implanted) and resistivities (10 and 100 (Omega) .cm) were measured. To better predict their behavior, a comparison was made with a simple uni-dimensional p-n junction model. This includes band-gap, depletion region width, diffusion constants, mobilities, intrinsic carrier concentration, absorption coefficient, and refractive index temperature functions. The surface recombination length of the minority carriers and the concentration of recombination centers were fitted to the experimental data.
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