Overview, design, and flight results from SuperBIT: a high-resolution, wide-field, visible-to-near-UV balloon-borne astronomical telescope
- Creators
- Romualdez, L. Javier
- Benton, Steven J.
- Brown, Anthony M.
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Clark, Paul
- Damaren, Christopher J.
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Eifler, Tim
- Fraisse, Aurelien A.
- Galloway, Mathew N.
- Hartley, John W.
- Jauzac, Mathilde
- Jones, William C.
- Li, Lun
- Luu, Thuy Vy T.
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Massey, Richard J.
- Mccleary, Jacqueline
- Netterfield, C. Barth
- Redmond, Susan
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Rhodes, Jason D.
- Schmoll, Jürgen
- Tam, Sut-Ieng
Abstract
Balloon-borne astronomy is a unique tool that allows for a level of image stability and significantly reduced atmospheric interference without the often prohibitive cost and long development time-scale that are characteristic of space-borne facility-class instruments. The Super-pressure Balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) is a wide-field imager designed to provide 0.02" image stability over a 0.5 degree field-of-view for deep exposures within the visible-to-near-UV (300-900 um). As such, SuperBIT is a suitable platform for a wide range of balloon-borne observations, including solar and extrasolar planetary spectroscopy as well as resolved stellar populations and distant galaxies. We report on the overall payload design and instrumentation methodologies for SuperBIT as well as telescope and image stability results from two test flights. Prospects for the SuperBIT project are outlined with an emphasis on the development of a fully operational, three-month science flight from New Zealand in 2020.
Additional Information
© 2018 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). SUPERBIT is supported in Canada, via the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), in the USA via NASA award NNX16AF65G, and in the UK via the Royal Society and Durham University. Part of the research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (Caltech), under contract with NASA.Attached Files
Published - 107020R.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 92009
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20190102-155138763
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- NNX16AF65G
- NASA
- Royal Society
- Durham University
- NASA/JPL/Caltech
- Created
-
2019-01-03Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Series Name
- Proceedings of SPIE
- Series Volume or Issue Number
- 10702