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NanoVipa: a miniaturized high-resolution echelle spectrometer, for the monitoring of young stars from a 6U Cubesat

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Abstract

We introduce to astrophysical instrumentation and space optics the use of virtually imaged phased array (VIPA) to shrink échelle spectrometers and/or increase their resolution. Here, we report on both a concept of an echelle spectrometer with resolution \(R=50{,}000\) (@653nm), which fits a 6U nanosatellite platform (\({{1{\rm U}= 10\,{\rm cm} \times 10\,{\rm cm} \times 10\,{\rm cm}}}\)), and on our laboratory tests on a \(R=200{,}000\) demonstrator. The outline of our paper is as follows: Sect. 1 introduces our concept of a 6U payload comprising an échelle spectrometer based on the VIPA. We present also the science cases of monitoring young stars, and the wider science landscape amenable with larger telescopes. Section 2 gives a more detailed description of the VIPA and of its implementation in a cross-dispersed spectrometer. Section 3 shows the first results at \(R=200{,}000\) we already achieved at the Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG). Finally, Sect. 4 is a discussion on the remaining technical points to study.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the LabEx FOCUS ANR-11-LABX-0013. The authors thank the LabEx FOCUS for its help and funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble, UGA, BP 53, 38041, Grenoble Cedex 9, France

    G. Bourdarot, E. Le Coarer, X. Bonfils, E. Alecian, P. Rabou & Y. Magnard

  2. Centre Spatial Universitaire de Grenoble, BP 53, 38041, Grenoble Cedex 9, France

    G. Bourdarot & E. Le Coarer

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  1. G. Bourdarot
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  2. E. Le Coarer
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  3. X. Bonfils
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  4. E. Alecian
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  5. P. Rabou
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  6. Y. Magnard
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Correspondence to G. Bourdarot.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

This paper is based on a presentation at the International Conference on Space Optics (ICSO), October 18–21, 2016, Biarritz, France.

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Bourdarot, G., Le Coarer, E., Bonfils, X. et al. NanoVipa: a miniaturized high-resolution echelle spectrometer, for the monitoring of young stars from a 6U Cubesat. CEAS Space J 9, 411–419 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-017-0168-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12567-017-0168-2

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