Quick Ultra-VIolet Kilonova surveyor (QUVIK)

We will present a study of a near-UV space telescope on a micro-satellite with a fast-repointing capability and real-time alert communication system that has been proposed in response to a call for an ambitious Czech national mission to promote the development of Czech science and space technology. The space telescope, with an effective area larger than 200 cm2, shall probe emission from stellar explosions resulting from mergers of neutron stars or neutron stars and black holes out to a distance of at least 200 Mpc. The satellite shall be able to point to the target location and start monitoring the emission in less than five minutes after an alert is issued by another observatory. The proposed space observatory shall measure the brightness evolution of kilonovae in the near-UV band and thus it shall distinguish between different explosion scenarios.

The satellite shall also perform target of opportunity observations of other transient sources, such as gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, outbursts in active galactic nuclei, tidal-disruption of stars by supermassive black holes, etc. Between the observations of transient sources, the satellite shall perform observations of other targets of interest for the scientific community (e.g., monitoring of exoplanet transits, stars, or surveys of galaxies). Importantly, to maximize the scientific utilisation of the UV telescope, such observations shall be chosen in open competition from proposals submitted by scientists from all around the world and after a proprietary time of one year the data shall be freely available for everyone.