SEPTEMBER 22--Image sensors from UK-based e2v are to be launched from Japan on 23 September with the Solar-B space mission to study the Sun. The sensors are incorporated into Solar-B's three scientific instruments. They will capture high-resolution images during solar atmospheric investigations that will examine the dynamic Sun-Earth relationship.
Solar-B is to study the interactions between the Sun's activity and its atmosphere. It has three primary science instruments, two of which study the Sun in the invisible ultraviolet part of the spectrum, while the third looks in the more-common visible waveband.
Solar-B's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer was built by a consortium led by University College London Mullard Space Science Laboratory using e2v's large-area, back-illuminated CCDs. Just as the human skin can be damaged by high-energy UV radiation, scientific detectors can also be damaged. These CCDs were optimized for stability under the damaging ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and supplied in a custom package that simplified the interfacing to the optical instrument's focal plane.
The x-ray telescope views the Sun using even more energetic x-ray wavelengths and studies higher-energy interactions in the Sun's atmosphere. e2v worked with ISAS in Japan and supplied large-area, back-illuminated CCDs, again optimized for stability and sensitivity.
The Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) focal-plane package operates in the mainly visible part of the spectrum. e2v worked with Lockheed Martin to develop a suite of three highly differentiated custom sensors to meet the varying needs of the instrument. These sensors range in size from a small correlation tracker to a large-area filtergraph CCD. The SOT is the first telescope of its kind to be sent into space specifically for solar observations.
The e2v sensors will help Solar-B to examine the interaction between the Sun's magnetic field and its corona, at the smallest scales to date. This will provide a better understanding of the mechanisms that give rise to solar magnetic variability and how this variability affects space weather. It will also help determine the reasons behind severe solar eruptions and provide an improved understanding of the Sun-Earth relationship.
Further information on e2v technologies plc is available on its Web site: www.e2v.com.
