The Gattini-UV South Pole camera

Gattini-UV 南极相机

• 批准号: 0839136
• 负责人: Anna Moore
• 金额: $ 31.17万
• 依托单位: California Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-06-01 至 2012-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0839136&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Gattini; UV; South; Pole; camera

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). The proposal seeks funding to continue astronomical site-testing investigations at the South Pole Station using the Gattini-UV camera that will provide data on sky brightness in the Astronomical U and B bands for the very first time. The objectives of this research effort are the following: (a) characterize the South Pole winter sky in the Astronomical U and B bands to provide a foundation for future larger-scale experiments such as direct detection of Lyman-alpha emission of the Intergalactic Medium; (b) provide fundamental data for other leading-edge science cases that require virtually no instrument-induced noise, exquisite background subtraction, and are invariant to image quality at these precise wavelengths; (c) measure the atmospheric extinction in the U and B bands from a zenith angle of 0 to 45 degrees; (d) obtain frequent and wide field observations of two of the brightest airglow lines occurring in the U and B bands, and (e) produce frequent and wide field observations of two of the brightest auroral lines in the U and B bands. This experimental dataset will be unique, and its potential significance will have relevance across several disciplines, including astronomers, aeronomers, and auroral scientists. The camera design will be based on the successful Gattini instruments currently operating at Dome A and Dome C, with the added adaptation of a collimator to incorporate narrow band filters at the pupil image. The camera is transit in nature (i.e., the sky moves relative to the CCD) and uses stars within the field to calibrate the sky background flux. Continued reliance on students provides a broader impact of this proposed research and firmly grounds this effort in its educational mission.

该奖项根据 2009 年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法 111-5）提供资金。该提案寻求资金，以使用 Gattini-UV 相机继续在南极站进行天文现场测试调查，该相机将首次提供天文 U 和 B 波段的天空亮度数据。这项研究工作的目标如下：(a) 在天文 U 和 B 波段描绘南极冬季天空的特征，为未来更大规模的实验（例如直接探测星际介质的莱曼-α 发射）奠定基础； (b) 为其他前沿科学案例提供基本数据，这些案例几乎不需要仪器引起的噪声、精确的背景扣除，并且在这些精确波长下图像质量不变； (c) 从0至45度的天顶角测量U和B波段的大气消光； (d) 获得对 U 和 B 波段中两条最亮的气辉线的频繁和宽视场观测，以及 (e) 对 U 和 B 波段中的两条最亮的极光线进行频繁和宽视场观测。这个实验数据集将是独一无二的，其潜在意义将与多个学科相关，包括天文学家、航空学家和极光科学家。相机设计将基于目前在 Dome A 和 Dome C 运行的成功的 Gattini 仪器，并增加了准直器的改造，以在瞳孔图像处结合窄带滤光片。该相机本质上是中转的（即天空相对于 CCD 移动），并使用视场内的恒星来校准天空背景通量。对学生的持续依赖使这项拟议研究产生了更广泛的影响，并将这项努力牢牢扎根于其教育使命中。