Astrophotonics offers a solution to some of the problems of building instruments for the next generation of telescopes through the use of photonic devices to miniaturise and simplify instruments. It has already proved its worth in interferometry over the last decade and is now being applied to nightsky background suppression. Astrophotonics offers a radically different approach to highly-multiplexed spectroscopy to the benefit of galaxy surveys such as are required to determine the evolution of the cosmic equation of state. The Astrophotonica Europa partnership funded by the EU via OPTICON is undertaking a wide-ranging survey of the technological opportunities and their applicability to high-priority astrophysical goals of the next generation of observatories. Here we summarise some of the conclusions.
In the context of the creation of a Distributed Space Weather Sensor System (D3S), the European Space Agency (ESA) is planning to fly a miniaturized payload for the monitoring of the auroral emissions with the project Wide Field Auroral Imager (WFAI). In order to meet ESA's requirements for an Auroral Optical Spectral Imager (AOSI), CSUG will build a breadboard as a proof of concept based on Imager Spectrometer on Chip (ImSPOC) technology.Imaging Spectrometer on Chip (ImSPOC) technology consists of a matrix composed by multiple, low finesse, Fabry-Perot modules mounted in one unique structure. Each Fabry-Perot cavity has a fixed optical path difference distributed from optical contact up to maximum elevation in order to have the desired spectral resolution and the spectral coverage. So, in one snapshot it is possible to "scan" several optical path differences and reconstruct the spectrum for each point of the field of view. The advantage of this technology is to reduce the mass and dimensions but also that it collects sufficient number of photons allowing the observation of the faintest aurora (Not visible with naked eye) with short integration time. This makes it a particularly well-suited technology for small satellite payload design in the framework of polar lights monitoring.We present here the optimization of the ImSPOC technology in the context of WFAI mission. This optimization allows us to recorded polar lights spectra in the wavelength range of 350 to 950 nm within an exposure between 10 and 60 s. The field of view of the instruments is 57° × 57°, obtained by combination of 9 individual modules with small dimension (one module fits in a 60 × 45 × 55 mm 3 box). The simulated performances of the instrument are really encouraging. The spectrometer must have a spectral resolution of 1 nm at 350 nm.
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