The BRITE Nanosatellite Constellation Mission
Abstract
BRITE Constellation, short for "BRIght Target Explorer Constellation," is a group of six seven-kilogram nanosatellites from Austria, Poland and Canada carrying three-centimeter aperture optical telescopes. The purpose of the mission is to photometrically measure low-level oscilla-tions and temperature variations in the sky's 286 stars brighter than visual magnitude 3.5, with unprecedented precision and time sampling not achievable through terrestrial-based methods. These stars turn out, for the most part, to be among the most luminous -either massive stars during their whole lifetimes or medium-mass stars at the very end of their nuclear burning phases. Such stars dominate the ecology of the Universe and the current massive ones are believed to represent the lower mass-range of the first stars ever formed (although long gone from the local Universe). Astronomers are eager to measure the variable behavior of lumi-nous stars in order to explore their inner workings in a unique way. BRITE Constellation will investigate the role that stellar winds play in setting up future stellar life cycles, and will measure pulsations to probe the histories and ages of luminous stars through asteroseismology. The three-axis pointing performance (1 arcminute RMS stability) of each BRITE satellite is a significant advancement by the University of Toronto's Space Flight Laboratory over any-thing that has ever flown before on a nanosatellite, and is a critical element that enables the high precision photometry mission. The University of Vienna and FFG/ALR (Austria's space agency) are financing the development of two satellites and development is nearing completion. The Polish Academy of Sciences is preparing two additional satellites. The Canadian Space Agency is also expected to fund two satellites in the constellation. This paper will summarize the science objectives of the mission and describe the progress to date.
- Publication:
-
38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2010
- Bibcode:
- 2010cosp...38.2904S