WSO-UV project

During last three decades, astronomers have enjoyed continuous access to the 100–300nm ultraviolet (UV) spectral range where the resonance transitions of the most abundant atoms and ions (at temperatures between 3000 and 300000K) reside. This UV range is not accessible from ground-based facilities....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advances in space research 2014-03, Vol.53 (6), p.990-995
Main Authors: Sachkov, Mikhail, Shustov, Boris, Gómez de Castro, Ana Ines
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomical instruments
Astronomy
Hubble Space Telescope
Imaging
Instrumentation: spectrographs
Observatories
Space missions
Space vehicles: instruments
Spectrographs
Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet: general
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Summary:During last three decades, astronomers have enjoyed continuous access to the 100–300nm ultraviolet (UV) spectral range where the resonance transitions of the most abundant atoms and ions (at temperatures between 3000 and 300000K) reside. This UV range is not accessible from ground-based facilities. The successful International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) observatory, the Russian ASTRON mission and successor instruments such as the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) mission or the COS and STIS spectrographs on-board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) prove the major impact of observations in the UV wavelength range in modern astronomy. Future access to space-based observatories is expected to be very limited. For the next decade, the post-HST era, the World Space Observatory – Ultraviolet (WSO–UV) will be the only 2-m class UV telescope with capabilities similar to the HST. WSO–UV will be equipped with instruments for imaging and spectroscopy and it will be a facility dedicated, full-time, to UV astronomy. In this article, we briefly outline the current status of the WSO–UV mission and the science management plan.
ISSN:0273-1177
1879-1948
DOI:10.1016/j.asr.2013.12.023