UV astronomy with small satellites

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of small satellites equipped with UV telescopes for astronomy, highlighting their suitability for niche UV observations due to affordability and specific instrument design.

Contribution

It identifies UV astronomy as a promising niche for small satellite platforms and proposes a compatible instrument design for effective UV observations.

Findings

Small satellites can effectively perform UV astronomy observations.

A 36 cm aperture telescope with a spectrometer suits small satellite UV missions.

Small satellite UV observatories can fulfill specific scientific objectives.

Abstract

Small satellite platforms with high performance avionics are becoming more affordable. So far, with a few exceptions, small satellites have been mainly dedicated to earth observation. However, astronomy is a fascinating field with a history of large missions and a future of promising large mission candidates. This prompts many questions; can the recent affordability of small satellites change the landscape of space astronomy? What are the potential applications and scientific topics of interest, where small satellites could be instrumental for astronomy? What are the requirements and objectives that need to be fulfilled to successfully address the astronomical investigations of interest? Which kind of instrumentation suits the small platforms and the scientific use cases best? This paper discusses possible scientific use cases that can be achievable with a relatively small telescope aperture of 36 cm, as an example. The result of this survey points to a specific niche market -astronomy observation in the UV spectral range. UV astronomy is a research field which has had valuable scientific impact. It is, however, not the focus of many current or past astronomical investigations. UV astronomy measurements cannot be made from earth, due to atmospheric absorption in this spectral range. The research field is currently sparsely addressed but of scientific interest for a large community. Small satellites offer the opportunity to provide more means of research for UV astronomy. Therefore, this paper also presents an instrument design with a modest telescope aperture, a spectrometer and a detector that is suitable for observations in the UV. The observatory design can be accommodated on small platforms for the selected scientific use cases. It fulfills the scientific objectives and requirements of those use cases.