Oswald Siegmund (Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley), John Vallerga (Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley), Barry Welsh (Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley), Jason McPhate (Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley), Anton Tremsin (Space Sciences Laboratory, U.C. Berkeley)
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Abstract:
In recent years we have implemented a variety of high-resolution, photon-counting MCP detectors in space instrumentation for satellite FUSE, GALEX, IMAGE, SOHO, SSULI, HST-COS, rocket, and shuttle payloads as well as sensors for ground based Astronomy, reconnaissance and biology. These detectors can meet many of the challenging imaging and timing demands of applications including astronomy of transient and time-variable sources, Earth atmospheric imaging and spectroscopy for real time space weather monitoring, biological single-molecule fluorescence lifetime microscopy, airborne and space situational awareness, and optical night-time/reconnaissance. Our recent work on high performance photon counting imaging readouts enables significant advancements over previous detector systems used for these applications. We have developed novel Cross-Strip and Cross-Delay-Line anode structures that can, in combination with small pore MCP’s in sealed tube detectors, can achieve high spatial resolution (better than 10 um FWHM) with self triggered ~1 ns timing accuracy at up to 10 MHz event rates. Sealed tubes with formats, of 18mm, and 25mm with efficient S25 photocathodes have been built and are being used in several applications. The detectors and their properties will be discussed in this paper. Our installation and astronomical commissioning of one of these detectors at the South African Astronomical Observatory, South African Large Telescope (SALT) 10m telescope will be described. Our photometer is positioned in an auxiliary instrument port of the SALT. This is a stand-alone instrument that includes our detector system with two filter wheels (neutral density and U, B, V), an iris, and all the control modules necessary to operate the system. This instrument gives us access to the southern sky with significant sensitivity and unprecedented time resolution (microsec). High time resolution astronomy is still in its infancy, such that high cadence observations of the variable visible wavelength emission from cataclysmic variables, short period pulsars, M-dwarf flares, low mass X-ray binaries, flickering from black-holes in AGN, stellar occultation of solar system planets and high precision timing of transiting extra-solar planets are all topics of potential interest to the astronomical community. During two weeks of initial observations a large range of these objects were observed, including high time resolution observations of cataclysmic variables, pulsars, and flare stars. Results from these observations will be discussed, along with implications for future observations that will result from continuing development of the instrumentation.
Date of Conference: September 1-4. 2009
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