Miniaturized X-ray telescope for VZLUSAT-1 nanosatellite with Timepix detector
Tomáš Báča
FEL, ČVUT
Abstract: We present the application of a Timepix detector on the VZLUSAT-1 nanosatellite. This project aims to verify the practicality of the detector in conjunction with 1-D Lobster-Eye optics to observe celestial sources between 5 and 20 keV. A modified USB Lite interface is used for low-level control of the Timepix. An additional 8-bit Atmel microcontroller is dedicated for commanding the detector and to process the data onboard the satellite. We present software methods for onboard post-processing of captured images, which are suitable for implementation under the constraints of the low-powered embedded hardware. Several measuring modes are prepared for different scenarios including single picture exposure, solar UV-light triggered exposure, and long-term all-sky monitoring. Following up VZLUSAT-1 project are NASA sounding rocket experiments. We aim to test a larger telescope (approx. 1 m focal length) together with Timepix detectors. Sounding rockets provide in-situ measurement platform, which allows 5-minute experiments with data recovery. We present results of preliminary experiments conducted at Pennstate University in 50 m long vacuum tunnel.
Seminar takes place on Tuesday, January 10th 2017 at 2:00 PM
in the IEAP meeting room, Praha 2 ‐ Albertov, Horská 3a/22.
Dr André Sopczak tajemník semináře |
doc. Ing. Ivan Štekl, CSc. ředitel |
Ing. Jan Žemlička předseda NPSS, ČS IEEE |
NUCLEAR & PLASMA SCIENCES SOCIETY CHAPTER
IEEE Czechoslovakia section
http://www.ieee.cz/en/nps