Sergio Fabiani, Ettore Del Monte, Ilaria Baffo, Sergio Bonomo, Daniele Brienza, Riccardo Campana, Mauro Centrone, Gessica Contini, Enrico Costa, Giovanni Cucinella, Andrea Curatolo, Nicolas De Angelis, Giovanni De Cesare, Andrea Del Re, Sergio Di Cosimo, Simone Di Filippo, Alessandro Di Marco, Giuseppe Di Persio, Immacolata Donnarumma, Pierluigi Fanelli, Paolo Leonetti, Alfredo Locarini, Pasqualino Loffredo, Giovanni Lombardi, Gabriele Minervini, Dario Modenini, Fabio Muleri, Silvia Natalucci, Andrea Negri, Massimo Perelli, Monia Rossi, Alda Rubini, Emanuele Scalise, Paolo Soffitta, Andrea Terracciano, Paolo Tortora, Emauele Zaccagnino, Alessandro Zambardi
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Proceeding of SPIE Conference "Astronomical Telescopes+ Instrumentation", Yokohama (Japan), 16-21 June 2024. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2208.06211
The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project is a future CubeSat mission orbiting the Earth aimed to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-ray band, by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter. CUSP will allow us to study the magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the flaring magnetic structures of our star. The project is in the framework of the Italian Space Agency Alcor Program, which aims to develop new CubeSat missions. CUSP is approved for a Phase B study that will last for 12 months, starting in mid-2024. We report on the current status of the CUSP mission project as the outcome of the Phase A.
The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project aims to develop a constellation of two CubeSats orbiting the Earth to measure the linear polarisation of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter on board of each satellite. CUSP will allow to study the magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the flaring magnetic structures. CUSP is a project approved for a Phase A study by the Italian Space Agency in the framework of the Alcor program aimed to develop CubeSat technologies and missions.
PolarLight is a compact soft X-ray polarimeter onboard a CubeSat, which was launched into a low-Earth orbit on October 29, 2018. In March 2019, PolarLight started full operation, and since then, regular observations with the Crab nebula, Sco X-1, and background regions have been conducted. Here we report the operation, calibration, and performance of PolarLight in the orbit. Based on these, we discuss how one can run a low-cost, shared CubeSat for space astronomy, and how CubeSats can play a role in modern space astronomy for technical demonstration, science observations, and student training.
Compton Polarimeter Prototype for the CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) mission
INAF-IAPS（意大利国家天体物理研究所红外天文物理研究所）；Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, ”Roma Tre” University（罗马第三大学工业、电子和机械工程学院）；INAF-OAS Bologna（意大利国家天体物理研究所博洛尼亚天文台）；INFN Sezione di Bologna（意大利国家核物理研究所博洛尼亚分部）；INAF-OAR（意大利国家天体物理研究所罗马天文台）；INAF-Headquarters（意大利国家天体物理研究所总部）；INAF-OACT（意大利国家天体物理研究所卡塔尼亚天文台）；IMT s.r.l.（IMT有限公司）；DEDA Connect s.r.l.（DEDA Connect有限公司）；DEIM, University of Tuscia（图斯卡维亚大学数字与生态管理系）；DIBAF, University of Tuscia（图斯卡维亚大学农业、食品和环境生物科学系）；Department of Industrial Engineering - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna（博洛尼亚大学工业工程系）；Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Aerospace Research - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna（博洛尼亚大学跨部门航空航天工业研究中心）；ASI（意大利航天局）
In orbit background for hard X-ray CubeSat polarimeters: case study of the CUSP mission in low-earth orbit
INAF-IAPS（意大利国家天体物理研究所-空间天文物理研究所）；Roma Tre University（罗马三大学）；University of Rome Tor Vergata（罗马托尔维加塔大学）；DEDA Connect s.r.l.（DEDA Connect有限公司）；University of Tuscia（图斯卡大学）；ASI（意大利航天局）；INAF-OAS Bologna（意大利国家天体物理研究所-博洛尼亚天文台）；INAF-OAR（意大利国家天体物理研究所-阿布鲁齐天文台）；IMT s.r.l.（IMT有限公司）；Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna（博洛尼亚大学）；Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Aerospace Research - Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna（博洛尼亚大学跨部门工业航空航天研究中心）；INAF-Headquarters（意大利国家天体物理研究所总部）；INAF-OACT（意大利国家天体物理研究所-卡塔尼亚天文台）；INFN Bologna Section（意大利国家核物理研究所博洛尼亚分部）
PolarLight: a CubeSat X-ray Polarimeter based on the Gas Pixel Detector
气体像元探测器（GPD）是为高灵敏度天文X射线偏振测量而设计和研制的，是近几年内即将打开的一扇新窗口。由于GPD的小质量，低功率和紧凑的几何形状，我们提出了一个立方体卫星任务偏振光（PolarLight）来演示和测试该技术直接在太空中。没有光学器件，只有一个准直器将视场限制在2.3度。充满0.8大气压的纯二甲醚（DME），并由100微米厚的铍窗密封，灵敏面积约为1.4 mm × 1.4 mm，PolarLight允许我们观察天空中最亮的X射线源，计数率为，例如，~0.2计数/秒来自蟹状星云。PolarLight大小为1U，安装在6 U CubeSat上，于2018年10月29日发射到低地球太阳同步轨道，目前正在测试中。计划在2019年推出更多改进设计的产品。这些测试将有助于提高未来任务的技术准备程度，如增强型X射线定时和偏振测量（eXTP），更好地了解轨道背景，并可能有助于通过观测最亮物体来限制物理学。
The CUSP CubeSat mission for space weather multi-physics analysis, design, and testing
INAF-IAPS（意大利国家天体物理研究所-空间物理学与等离子体动力学研究所）；INAF-OAS Bologna（意大利国家天体物理研究所-博洛尼亚天文台）；INAF-OAR（意大利国家天体物理研究所-阿斯特罗菲西卡观测站）；INAF-OACT（意大利国家天体物理研究所-卡塔尼亚天文台）；INAF-Headquarters（意大利国家天体物理研究所总部）；Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, Roma Tre University（罗马第三大学工业、电子与机械工程系）；Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia（佩鲁贾大学物理与地质学系）；INFN Sezione di Perugia（意大利国家核物理研究所佩鲁贾分部）；IMT s.r.l.（IMT有限公司）；Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Aerospace Research - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna（博洛尼亚大学跨部门航空航天工业研究中心）；Department of Industrial Engineering - Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna（博洛尼亚大学工业工程系）；DEDA Connect s.r.l.（DEDA Connect有限公司）；DEIM, University of Tuscia（图斯卡大学数字与环境工程与设计系）；DIBAF, University of Tuscia（图斯卡大学农业、食品、林业与环境科学系）；ASI（意大利国家航天局）；INFN Sezione di Bologna（意大利国家核物理研究所博洛尼亚分部）
The 3UCubed project is a 3U CubeSat being jointly developed by the University of New Hampshire, Sonoma State University, and Howard University as a part of the NASA Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, IMAP, student collaboration. This project comprises of a multidisciplinary team of undergraduate students from all three universities. The mission goal of the 3UCubed is to understand how Earths polar upper atmosphere the thermosphere in Earths auroral regions, responds to particle precipitation and solar wind forcing, and internal magnetospheric processes. 3UCubed includes two instrumen…
Solar flare electron acceleration is an extremely efficient process, but the method of acceleration is not well constrained. Two of the essential diagnostics: electron anisotropy (velocity angle to the guiding magnetic field) and the high energy cutoff (highest energy electrons produced by the acceleration conditions: mechanism, spatial extent, time), are important quantities that can help to constrain electron acceleration at the Sun but both are poorly determined. Here, using electron and X-ray transport simulations that account for both collisional and non-collisional transport processes su…
