2003 - Astronomia - Università degli Studi di Firenze

The LabVIEW software interface has been upgraded and integrated with powerful tools: we have
developed an intuitive and easy-to-use graphical front panel for a user-friendly and fast management of
the image acquisition. Moreover, within the same interface, it is possible to perform a first complex
statistical or mathematical analysis to check the resulting image.
The modularity and the compactness will permit simple upgrades for the accommodation on the
HERSCHEL rocket. The prototype has been tested and all the hardware components have shown their
functionality with image acquisitions, even at the target pixel rate of 2 MHz. However, these tests have
shown a noise floor greater than our target level; this item is the main object of the optimization and
integration phase.
In the next phase we will integrate the camera head and the Controller in order to satisfy the requirements
for the accommodation on the rocket payload, like the constraints on the overall size and weight of the
camera and the data transfer protocols between the detector and the main computer. Power supply
and electrical components will also undergo a critical review to reduce complexity, weight and power
consumption. Finally, integration and vibrational tests of the CCD camera with a prototype of liquid
crystals polarimeter are planned.
References:
Camera arrangement on HERSCHEL optical bench
1. A. Gherardi, E. Pace, L. Gori, M. Focardi, , S. Fineschi, L. Zangrilli, CCD camera for ground- and
space-based solar corona observations,
to be published in Telescope and Instrumentation
for Solar Astrophysics, S. Fineschi and M.A. Gummin eds, Proc. SPIE 5171, 2003
2. S. Fineschi, E. Antonucci, G. Naletto, R. A. Howard, J. D. Moses, J. S. Newmark, F. Auchere, R. J.
Thomas, P. L. Rochus, M. Focardi, L. Zangrilli, D. Gardiol, D. Loreggia, M. Romoli, E. Pace, M.
Malvezzi, P. Nicolosi, G. Tondello, SPECTRE: the spectroheliograph for the transition region
aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory,
to be published in Telescope and Instrumentation
for Solar Astrophysics, S. Fineschi and M.A. Gummin eds, Proc. SPIE 5171, 2003
XUVLab activity summary 2003
detectors developements 19