Conference proceeding
A web-based exposure time calculator for the Aspera far-ultraviolet mission
Proceedings of SPIE, the international society for optical engineering, Vol.14155, pp.141555D-141555D-4
08/19/2026
DOI: 10.1117/12.3104003
Abstract
An exposure time calculator (ETC) is a foundational tool for virtually every astronomical telescope and instrument, providing the estimates of exposure time and signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) required for mission planning and proposal preparation. We present the ETC developed for Aspera, a NASA Astrophysics Pioneers far-ultraviolet (FUV) SmallSat mission designed to detect and map the warm-hot circumgalactic medium (CGM) around nearby galaxies through Ovi 103.2 nm line emission. The Aspera ETC has been developed early in the mission lifecycle and used throughout mission development to evaluate the feasibility of science cases and to derive observational requirements. It is implemented in a dual form: a command-line version for advanced mission-planning workflows and a web-based version, built with the Streamlit framework, that enables the broader astronomical community to explore Aspera’s capabilities. Both interfaces share the same backend core functions to ensure consistency and reliability. The core S/N engine is broadly applicable to both imaging and spectroscopic platforms and a range of detector types, and variants of it have already been adapted for several other astronomical instruments and missions. We describe the ETC design, its input parameters, the exposure time solver, and its broader applicability beyond Aspera.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- A web-based exposure time calculator for the Aspera far-ultraviolet mission
- Creators
- Haeun Chung - University of ArizonaCarlos J. Vargas - University of ArizonaErika Hamden - University of ArizonaHannah Tanquary - University of ArizonaTom McMahon - University of ArizonaSimran Agarwal - University of ArizonaRamona Augustin - Leibniz-Institut fur Astrophysik Potsdam (AIP) (Germany)Mateo Batkis - NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)Peter Behroozi - University of ArizonaJoseph Burchett - New Mexico State UniversityAlondra Cardona - University of ArizonaHeejoo Choi - University of ArizonaLauren Corlies - University of ArizonaJason Corliss - University of ArizonaFernando Coronado - University of ArizonaGreyson Davis - Univ. of Florida (United States)Javier Del Hoyo - NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)Ralf-Jürgen Dettmar - Ruhr University BochumAva Doty - University of ArizonaEwan Douglas - University of ArizonaElijah Garcia - University of ArizonaGiulia Ghidoli - Ascending Node Technologies, LLC (United States)Dave Hamara - University of ArizonaWalt Harris - University of ArizonaJohn Hennessey - Jet Propulsion LaboratoryCarl W. Hergenrother - Ascending Node Technologies, LLC (United States)Keri Hoadley - Univ. of Florida (United States)J. Christopher Howk - University of Notre DameMiriam Keppler - University of ArizonaNazende Ipek Kerkeser - California Institute of Technology (United States)Aafaque R. Khan - University of ArizonaJohn N. Kidd - Ascending Node Technologies, LLC (United States)Daewook Kim - University of ArizonaJin-Ah Kim - University of ArizonaKimberly Knott - University of ArizonaJessica Li - Univ. of Florida (United States)Jasmine Martinez Castillo - University of ArizonaNicole Melso - Rochester Institute of TechnologyJamison Noenickx - University of ArizonaGabe Noriega - University of ArizonaRyan Pecha - University of ArizonaManuel Quijada - NASA Goddard Space Flight Ctr. (United States)Luis Rodriguez de Marcos - Catholic University of AmericaCorwynn Sauve - University of ArizonaDavid Schiminovich - Columbia UniversitySanford Selznick - Ascending Node Technologies, LLC (United States)Oswald Siegmund - Sensor Sciences, LLC (United States)Rebecca Su - University of ArizonaDaniel Truong - University of ArizonaSumedha Uppnor - University of ArizonaWilliam Verts - University of ArizonaEllie Wolcott - University of ArizonaNaomi Yescas - University of ArizonaDennis Zaritsky - University of Arizona
- Contributors
- Jorge Ibsen (Editor) - AlmaValentina Alberti (Editor) - INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste (Italy)
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of SPIE, the international society for optical engineering, Vol.14155, pp.141555D-141555D-4
- DOI
- 10.1117/12.3104003
- ISSN
- 0277-786X
- Publisher
- SPIE
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 08/19/2026
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9985224447802771
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