Evaluation of payload performance for a sounding rocket vacuum ultraviolet spatial heterodyne spectrometer to observe C IV lambdalambda1550 emissions from the Cygnus Loop.
The results of a project to develop a spatial heterodyne spectrometer (SHS) for a sounding rocket mission to study the Cygnus Loop, a prototypical middle-aged supernova remnant, are discussed. The goal was to obtain a radial velocity-resolved spectrum of the C IV lambdalambda1550 emission line from bright features of the Cygnus Loop, as a test for mapping the diffuse hot interstellar medium (ISM). A full Fourier-transform analysis of Cygnus Loop emission data is presented, showing lack of velocity-resolved C IV emission detection. Optics contamination is shown to be the most likely problem, and ways to eliminate this contamination for future SHS sounding rocket and satellite missions are discussed.
Scientific Solutions, Inc., 55 Middlesex Street, Unit 210, North Chelmsford, Massachusetts 01863, USA. steve@sci-sol.com
Steven
S
Watchorn
Fred L
FL
Roesler
John
J
Harlander
Kurt P
KP
Jaehnig
Ronald J
RJ
Reynolds
Wilton T
WT
Sanders