The Comet Interceptor mission has been adopted by the European Space Agency (ESA) Science Programme Committee in June 2022 as the first ”F” mission in the Science Programme. The aim of the mission is to increase the knowledge on comets and on the Solar System formation by encountering and exploring a Dynamically New Comet (DNC) or an Interstellar Object (ISO) originating at another star. EnVisS (Entire Visible Sky) is an all-sky camera designed to fly on Comet Interceptor and whose scientific task is to study the radiance and the polarization properties of the comet coma in the visible spectrum. The camera is composed of an optical head, a filter strip assembly and a detector. The Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (CNR-IFN) of Padova and Leonardo SpA (Campi BisenzioFlorence) are in charge of the design of the filter package, which currently consists of three filter strips glued side by side. The central strip is a high transmission broadband (BB) filter in the range 550–800 nm with no polarization properties, while the side ones are linear polarization filters with the same transmission bandpass as the BB and with polarization axis at 45° from one another. In the CNR-IFN laboratories different types of polarizers have been tested to establish which one has the most fitting properties for EnVisS’s purposes. The analyzed filters are Moxtek Visible Light Polarizer RCV8N2EC and Ultra BroadBand Polarizer UBB01A, and Polarcor Wide Band Polarizer. For each type of polarizing filter, both transmissivity and reflectivity have been measured and compared both with those of the other filters as well as data provided by the manufacturer. Overall, measurements of the filters’ transmissivity and reflectivity agree with those provided by the supplier and mostly fit EnVisS’ purposes. Thanks to its optimal performance and the fused silica substrate, Moxtek UBB01A is considered the best candidate filter for the instrument between the polarizers that have been characterized.
Characterization of the polarizing filters for the EnVisS camera
Naletto C.
;Chioetto P.;Zaccariotto M.;
2024
Abstract
The Comet Interceptor mission has been adopted by the European Space Agency (ESA) Science Programme Committee in June 2022 as the first ”F” mission in the Science Programme. The aim of the mission is to increase the knowledge on comets and on the Solar System formation by encountering and exploring a Dynamically New Comet (DNC) or an Interstellar Object (ISO) originating at another star. EnVisS (Entire Visible Sky) is an all-sky camera designed to fly on Comet Interceptor and whose scientific task is to study the radiance and the polarization properties of the comet coma in the visible spectrum. The camera is composed of an optical head, a filter strip assembly and a detector. The Institute for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (CNR-IFN) of Padova and Leonardo SpA (Campi BisenzioFlorence) are in charge of the design of the filter package, which currently consists of three filter strips glued side by side. The central strip is a high transmission broadband (BB) filter in the range 550–800 nm with no polarization properties, while the side ones are linear polarization filters with the same transmission bandpass as the BB and with polarization axis at 45° from one another. In the CNR-IFN laboratories different types of polarizers have been tested to establish which one has the most fitting properties for EnVisS’s purposes. The analyzed filters are Moxtek Visible Light Polarizer RCV8N2EC and Ultra BroadBand Polarizer UBB01A, and Polarcor Wide Band Polarizer. For each type of polarizing filter, both transmissivity and reflectivity have been measured and compared both with those of the other filters as well as data provided by the manufacturer. Overall, measurements of the filters’ transmissivity and reflectivity agree with those provided by the supplier and mostly fit EnVisS’ purposes. Thanks to its optimal performance and the fused silica substrate, Moxtek UBB01A is considered the best candidate filter for the instrument between the polarizers that have been characterized.
Pubblicazioni consigliate
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
