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LUVIS: an Ultraviolet mission optimized for the Lyman UV

Presentation #206.08 in the session New Mission Concepts — iPoster Session.

Published onJun 29, 2022
LUVIS: an Ultraviolet mission optimized for the Lyman UV

LUVIS is a focused UV science mission designed for the resources of a SMEX-class mission. The single instrument consists of a 0.5-m f/24 RC optical telescope assembly feeding a far-UV spectrometer. The Lyman UV Imaging Spectrometer is optimized for the 102-140 nm wavelength band. The telescope images through a 6 arcmin long slit onto a concave holographic grating with a resolving power of 20,000 providing both spectral and spatial information. The sensor is a cylindrical micro-channel plate detector with a Cesium iodide photocathode and cross-strip data readout. The light gathering power is designed to reach galaxies with near-UV fluxes as low as 10-14 erg/s/cm2/Å. Even lower fluxes are detectable with long time exposures. Due to the bandpass reaching 102nm, LUVIS will allow study of the CGM in galaxies with small redshift, thus providing a 10x improvement in effective area over even HST. The design approach utilizes a minimum number of reflective surfaces, limited mechanisms, and a TESS-like orbit minimizing fuel requirements while offering operational advantages. All components are already at a high technology readiness level further reducing technical, cost, and schedule risk to meet a SMEX budget with healthy cost reserves.

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