SWAP @ ROB
SWAP (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing)
The SWAP telescope (Sun Watcher using Active Pixel System detector and Image Processing)
has been developed as part of the PROBA2 payload. SWAP is directly derived from the concept
of the EIT telescope that we developed in the ’90s for the SOHO mission.
SWAP provides images of the solar corona at about 17.4 nm, a bandpass that corresponds to a
temperature of roughly 1 million degrees, with a cadence of 1 image per 1-2 minutes, and field of view (FOV) of 54 arcmin.
Several major innovations have been introduced in the design of the instrument in order to
be compliant with the requirements of the PROBA2 micro-satellite: compactness, with a new
off-axis optical design, radiation resistance with a new CMOS-APS detector, a very low power
electronics, an athermal opto-mechanical system, optimized onboard compression schemes combined
with prioritization of collected data, autonomy with automatic triggering of observation and
off-pointing procedures in case of solar event occurrence.
All these new features result from the low resource requirements (power, mass, telemetry)
of the mini-satellite, but also take advantage of the specificities of a modern technological platform,
such as quick pointing agility, new powerful on-board processor, Packetwire interface, and autonomous operations.
(website)
Location Details
| Location | onboard the PROBA 2 satellite in space |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), dawn-dusk orbit |
| Altitude | orbit of 702 km to 720 km website |
| Type | off-axis Ritchey-Chrétien type telescope |
| Size | 0.033m = 33mm (entrance pupil diameter) |
| Operated by | Solar Influences Data Analysis Center (SIDC) at Royal Observatory of Belgium (Brussels, Belgium) |
| Instruments | SWAP |
Telescope Time
The SWAP telescope takes non-stop synoptic images of the solar corona. Occasionally, special observation campaigns are run.
A competitive guest investigator program calls every year for external researchers to participate in the SWAP telescope operations and data analysis website
In recent years, the PROBA2 guest investigator program is merged with the one of EUI website
SWAP telescope
- Field-of-view: 3.9 arcmin x 53.9 arcmin, square
- Detector: CMOS 1024x1024
- Wavelength range: 17 nm - 18.2 nm, peak on 17.4 nm (the bandpass is defined by fixed aluminum filters and by multilayers on primary and secondary mirror)
- The SWAP instrument uses an off-axis Ritchey-Chrétien type telescope equipped with an EUV enhanced CMOS/APS detector (coated with a scintillator layer). An elliptical primary mirror is combined with a spherical secondary mirror to focus in quasi-normal incidence the solar light on the APS.