Exoplanet Science with a Nanosat: Development, Operation, and First Results of the PicSat Fibered Photometer
Abstract
PicSat is a nanosatellite developed to observe the transit of the giant planet β Pictoris b, expected in 2018. The science objectives of the mission are: the observation of the transit of the giant planet's Hill sphere, the detection of exocomets in the system, and the fine monitoring of the circumstellar disk inhomogeneities.Developping a payload to address these ambitious objectives with the specific constraints imposed by a nanosatellite platform is a challenge. The PicSat payload is based on a single mode optical fiber, which is used as spatial filter. This alleviates the need for a bulky baffle to protect the detector from contamination by scattered light. In this unique concept, the starlight is collected by a small aperture telescope, directly injected into the single-mode fiber, and brought to a temperature-regulated single-pixel avalanche photodiode. The stability of the light injection into the optical fiber is ensured by a fine pointing system based on a two-axis piezoelectric actuation system, driven by a taylor-made tracking alorithm. Overall, the system weights about 2 kg, and fits in a single CubeSat unit.The PicSat nanosatellite is a 3 unit CubeSat platform, design to carry this ambitious payload. It was launched on the Indian PSLV-C40, in January 2018. The payload is currently (Feb. 2018) being commissionned.This presentation will be focused on the ambitious opto-mechanical payload of the PicSat mission, and its science case. We will present the general concept of the fibered photometer, and show how a science instrument can be designed to fit on a small Cubesat platform, without sacrificing its science case. We will also present the results of the first months of flight of this instrument. Operating an astrophysical payload in the frame of a small Cubesat project comes with its own challenges, and we will give our return of experience on this.
- Publication:
-
42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018cosp...42E2474N