TY - GEN
T1 - Balloon-borne FIREBall-2 UV spectrograph stray light control based on non-sequential reverse modeling of on-sky data
AU - Brendel, Trenton
AU - Khan, Aafaque
AU - Agarwal, Simran
AU - Choi, Heejoo
AU - Kim, Daewook
AU - Hamden, Erika
N1 - Funding Information: The Faint Intergalactic-medium Redshifted Emission Balloon (FIREBall-2) is a balloon-borne, ultra-violet (UV) multi-object spectrograph (MOS) designed to observe faint emission from the halos of galaxies. FIREBall-2 is an international collaboration between the United States (Caltech, JPL, Columbia University, University of Arizona, University of Iowa) and France (Centre National d’Études Spatiales and Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille). This suborbital astronomical balloon telescope, jointly funded by NASA and CNES, is designed to explore the forefront of modern extra-galactic astronomy through the discovery and mapping of faint emission from the intergalactic medium (IGM) and circumgalactic medium (CGM) around moderate-redshift galaxies (z ∼ 0.7). FIREBall-2 helps to improve our understanding of the vast diversity of nearby galaxies through the study of galactic feedback, including matter and energy outflows. By exploiting a convenient balloon window between the atmospheric O2 and O3 absorption bands above 37 km altitude, FIREBall-2 observes line emission in the λ = 1980 – 2130 ˚ band. FIREBall-2 is uniquely positioned as the only MOS to have ever flown on a balloon and the only UV MOS currently operating. Funding Information: This project was funded primarily by the NASA APRA Program for sub-orbital missions which funds the US portion of FIREBall-2, Award number 80NSSC20K0262. FIREBall-2 is a collaboration between NASA, CNES, LAM, Caltech, Columbia, JPL, UIowa, and UArizona. The FIREBall-2 collaboration would like thank the Columbia Scientific Ballooning Facility (CSBF) and Balloon Program Office (BPO/NASA) for their support during the 2022 campaign in Ft. Sumner, NM. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 SPIE.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - We present a comprehensive stray light analysis and mitigation strategy for the FIREBall-2 UV telescope. Using non-sequential optical modeling, we identified the most problematic stray light paths which impacted telescope performance during the 2018 flight campaign. After confirming the correspondence between the simulation results and post-flight calibration measurements of stray light contributions, a system of baffles was designed to minimize stray light contamination. The baffles were fabricated and coated to maximize stray light collection ability. Once completed, the baffles will be integrated into FIREBall-2 and tested for performance preceding the upcoming flight campaign. Given our analysis results, we anticipate a substantial reduction in the effects of stray light.
AB - We present a comprehensive stray light analysis and mitigation strategy for the FIREBall-2 UV telescope. Using non-sequential optical modeling, we identified the most problematic stray light paths which impacted telescope performance during the 2018 flight campaign. After confirming the correspondence between the simulation results and post-flight calibration measurements of stray light contributions, a system of baffles was designed to minimize stray light contamination. The baffles were fabricated and coated to maximize stray light collection ability. Once completed, the baffles will be integrated into FIREBall-2 and tested for performance preceding the upcoming flight campaign. Given our analysis results, we anticipate a substantial reduction in the effects of stray light.
KW - Stray light analysis
KW - non-sequential ray tracing
KW - opto-mechanical design
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85140054175&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85140054175&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/12.2631704
DO - 10.1117/12.2631704
M3 - Conference contribution
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes IX
A2 - Marshall, Heather K.
A2 - Spyromilio, Jason
A2 - Usuda, Tomonori
PB - SPIE
T2 - Ground-Based and Airborne Telescopes IX 2022
Y2 - 17 July 2022 through 22 July 2022
ER -