The WSO, a world-class observatory for the ultraviolet

M. A. Barstow; L. Binette; N. Brosch; F-Z. Cheng; M. Dennefeld; A. I. Gomez de Castro; H. Haubold; K. A. van der Hucht; N. Kappelmann; P. Martinez; A. Moisheev; I. Pagano; E. N. Ribak; J. Sahade; B. Shustov; J. -E. Solheim; W. Wamsteker; K. Werner; H. Becker-Ross; S. Florek

doi:10.1117/12.459779

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arXiv · astro-ph/0209333

The WSO, a world-class observatory for the ultraviolet

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Abstract

The World Space Observatory is an unconventional space project proceeding via distributed studies. The present design, verified for feasibilty, consists of a 1.7-meter telescope operating at the second Largangian point of the Earth-Sun system. The focal plane instruments consist of three UV spectrometers covering the spectral band from Lyman alpha to the atmospheric cutoff with R~55,000 and offering long-slit capability over the same band with R~1,000. In addition, a number of UV and optical imagers view adjacent fields to that sampled by the spectrometers. Their performance compares well with that of HST/ACS and the spectral capabilities of WSO rival those of HST/COS.

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M. A. Barstow, L. Binette, N. Brosch, F-Z. Cheng, M. Dennefeld, A. I. Gomez de Castro, H. Haubold, K. A. van der Hucht, N. Kappelmann, P. Martinez, A. Moisheev, I. Pagano, E. N. Ribak, J. Sahade, B. Shustov, J. -E. Solheim, W. Wamsteker, K. Werner, H. Becker-Ross, S. Florek. 2002-09-17. The WSO, a world-class observatory for the ultraviolet. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.459779

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