Prospects for Observations of Transient UV Events with the TAUVEX UV Observatory

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the potential of the TAUVEX UV observatory to detect transient UV events, focusing on collisions in exoplanet systems and M dwarf flares, with estimated detection rates of 90-350 events annually.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of TAUVEX's capabilities for observing UV transient events and estimates detection rates, highlighting its role in transient astronomy.

Findings

Estimated 90-350 transient events per year

Real-time telemetry enables early transient detection

TAUVEX's design suits short-scale UV transient observations

Abstract

Transient events have posed special problems in astronomy because of the intrinsic difficulty of their detection, and a new class of observatories such as the Pan-STARRS and LSST are coming up specifically to observe these energetic events. In this paper we discuss the UV transient events from two specific sources, such as possible collisions in extrasolar planetary systems and M dwarf flares, to find the probability of their detection by space UV observatories, in particular, by the Tel Aviv University Explorer (TAUVEX). TAUVEX is an UV imaging experiment that will image large parts of the sky in the wavelength region between 120 and 350 nm. TAUVEX is a collaborative effort between the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) and Tel Aviv University, and is scheduled for an early-2009 launch with at least three years of operations. The scientific instrument has been fabricated at El-Op in Israel, with the satellite interfaces, launch and flight operations provided by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The ground-based software development is the responsibility of the IIA while other aspects of the mission are the joint responsibility of IIA and Tel Aviv University. TAUVEX Science Team (TST) have created a coherent observing program to address several Key Areas science objectives, one of them is a program to study short-scale UV transient events. We have estimated that in one year of TAUVEX observations we can expect about 90-350 short-scale transient events. Because we obtain real-time telemetry with TAUVEX, we will be able to catch transients early in their evolution and to alert other observatories. We also present a description of TAUVEX mission, including instrument design and its estimated performance.