Open Access
25 November 2022 Balloon-borne FIREBall-2 ultraviolet spectrograph stray light control based on nonsequential reverse modeling of on-sky data
Trenton Brendel, Aafaque Khan, Simran Agarwal, Heejoo Choi, Daewook Kim, Erika Hamden, Vincent Picouet, D. Christopher Martin, Bruno Milliard, David Schiminovich, Shouleh Nikzad, Jean Evrard, Nicolas Bray, Johan Montel, Keri Hoadley, Drew M. Miles, Gillian Kyne, Jessica Li, Zeren Lin, Haeun Chung, Philippe Balard, Patrick Blanchard, Marty Crabill, Charles-Antoine Chevrier, Alain Peus, Ignacio Cevallos-Aleman, Olivia Jones, Harrison Bradley, Naz Ipek Kerkeser, Matthew Werneken, Didier Vibert, Nicole Melso, David Valls-Gabaud
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

We present a comprehensive stray light analysis and mitigation strategy for the FIREBall-2 ultraviolet balloon telescope. Using nonsequential 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 postflight 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.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
Trenton Brendel, Aafaque Khan, Simran Agarwal, Heejoo Choi, Daewook Kim, Erika Hamden, Vincent Picouet, D. Christopher Martin, Bruno Milliard, David Schiminovich, Shouleh Nikzad, Jean Evrard, Nicolas Bray, Johan Montel, Keri Hoadley, Drew M. Miles, Gillian Kyne, Jessica Li, Zeren Lin, Haeun Chung, Philippe Balard, Patrick Blanchard, Marty Crabill, Charles-Antoine Chevrier, Alain Peus, Ignacio Cevallos-Aleman, Olivia Jones, Harrison Bradley, Naz Ipek Kerkeser, Matthew Werneken, Didier Vibert, Nicole Melso, and David Valls-Gabaud "Balloon-borne FIREBall-2 ultraviolet spectrograph stray light control based on nonsequential reverse modeling of on-sky data," Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 8(4), 048001 (25 November 2022). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JATIS.8.4.048001
Received: 10 June 2022; Accepted: 4 November 2022; Published: 25 November 2022
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KEYWORDS
Baffles

Stray light

Sensors

Spectrographs

Mirrors

Balloons

Ultraviolet radiation

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