Science with a small two-band UV-photometry mission I: Mission description and follow-up observations of stellar transients

TL;DR

The paper introduces the QUVIK mission, a small UV space telescope designed to study stellar transients, especially kilonovae, providing rapid follow-up observations to enhance gravitational wave event analysis.

Contribution

It presents the design and scientific goals of the QUVIK mission, highlighting its unique capabilities for UV transient follow-up and its potential impact on astrophysics.

Findings

Design of a 130 kg UV space telescope with rapid re-pointing.

Potential to distinguish kilonova explosion scenarios through UV brightness evolution.

Complementary role to ULTRASAT in transient astronomy.

Abstract

This is the first in a collection of three papers introducing the science with an ultra-violet (UV) space telescope on an approximately 130~kg small satellite with a moderately fast re-pointing capability and a real-time alert communication system approved for a Czech national space mission. The mission, called Quick Ultra-Violet Kilonova surveyor - QUVIK, will provide key follow-up capabilities to increase the discovery potential of gravitational wave observatories and future wide-field multi-wavelength surveys. The primary objective of the mission is the measurement of the UV brightness evolution of kilonovae, resulting from mergers of neutron stars, to distinguish between different explosion scenarios. The mission, which is designed to be complementary to the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite - ULTRASAT, will also provide unique follow-up capabilities for other transients both in the near- and far-UV bands. Between the observations of transients, the satellite will target other objects described in this collection of papers, which demonstrates that a small and relatively affordable dedicated UV-space telescope can be transformative for many fields of astrophysics.