Journal article
The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment Mission Overview
The Astronomical journal, Vol.165(2), p.63
02/01/2023
DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/aca8a2
Abstract
Atmospheric escape is a fundamental process that affects the structure, composition, and evolution of many planets. The signatures of escape are detectable on close-in, gaseous exoplanets orbiting bright stars, owing to the high levels of extreme-ultraviolet irradiation from their parent stars. The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) is a CubeSat mission designed to take advantage of the near-ultraviolet stellar brightness distribution to conduct a survey of the extended atmospheres of nearby close-in planets. The CUTE payload is a magnifying near-ultraviolet (2479–3306 Å) spectrograph fed by a rectangular Cassegrain telescope (206 mm × 84 mm); the spectrogram is recorded on a back-illuminated, UV-enhanced CCD. The science payload is integrated into a 6U Blue Canyon Technology XB1 bus. CUTE was launched into a polar, low-Earth orbit on 2021 September 27 and has been conducting this transit spectroscopy survey following an on-orbit commissioning period. This paper presents the mission motivation, development path, and demonstrates the potential for small satellites to conduct this type of science by presenting initial on-orbit science observations. The primary science mission is being conducted in 2022–2023, with a publicly available data archive coming online in 2023
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment Mission Overview
- Creators
- Kevin France - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsBrian Fleming - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsArika Egan - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsJean-Michel Desert - The Netherlands Cancer InstituteLuca Fossati - Austrian Academy of SciencesTommi T. Koskinen - University of ArizonaNicholas Nell - University of Colorado BoulderPascal Petit - Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et PlanétologieAline A. Vidotto - Leiden UniversityMatthew Beasley - Southwest Research InstituteNicholas DeCicco - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsAickara Gopinathan Sreejith - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsAmbily Suresh - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsJared Baumert - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsP. Wilson Cauley - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsCarolina Villarreal D’Angelo - Instituto de Astronomía Teórica y ExperimentalKeri Hoadley - University of IowaRobert Kane - University of Colorado BoulderRichard Kohnert - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsJulian Lambert - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsStefan Ulrich - Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Astronomical journal, Vol.165(2), p.63
- DOI
- 10.3847/1538-3881/aca8a2
- ISSN
- 0004-6256
- eISSN
- 1538-3881
- Publisher
- The American Astronomical Society
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- 80NSSC21K1667 / NASA
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/01/2023
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984429047502771
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