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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
earth and planetary sciences
BRITE-constellation: Nanosatellites for precision photometry of bright stars
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Volume 126, No. 940, Year 2014
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Description
BRITE-Constellation (where BRITE stands for BRIght Target Explorer) is an international nanosatellite mission to monitor photometrically, in two colours, the brightness and temperature variations of stars generally brighter than mag(V) ≈ 4 with precision and time coverage not possible from the ground. The current mission design consists of six nanosats (hence Constellation): two from Austria, two from Canada, and two from Poland. Each 7 kg nanosat carries an optical telescope of aperture 3 cm feeding an uncooled CCD. One instrument in each pair is equipped with a blue filter; the other with a red filter. Each BRITE instrument has a wide field of view (≈24°), so up to about 15 bright stars can be observed simultaneously, sampled in 32 × 32 pixels sub-rasters. Photometry of additional fainter targets, with reduced precision but thorough time sampling, will be possible through onboard data processing. The BRITE sample is dominated by the most intrinsically luminous stars: massive stars seen at all evolutionary stages, and evolved medium-mass stars at the very end of their nuclear burning phases. The goals of BRITE-Constellation are to (1) measure p- and g-mode pulsations to probe the interiors and ages of stars through asteroseismology; (2) look for varying spots on the stars surfaces carried across the stellar disks by rotation, which are the sources of co-rotating interaction regions in the winds of the most luminous stars, probably arising from magnetic subsurface convection; and (3) search for planetary transits. © 2014. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Authors & Co-Authors
Weiss, Werner W.
Austria, Vienna
Universität Wien
Ruciński, Slavek M.
Canada, Toronto
University of Toronto
Moffat, Anthony F.J.
Canada, Montreal
University of Montreal
Schwarzenberg-Czerny, Aleksander
Poland, Warsaw
Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Kuschnig, Rainer
Austria, Vienna
Universität Wien
Matthews, Jaymie M.
Canada, Vancouver
The University of British Columbia
Orleanski, P.
Poland, Warsaw
Space Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Pamyatnykh, Alexey A.A.
Poland, Warsaw
Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Pigulski, Andrzej
Poland, Wroclaw
University of Wroclaw
Alves, João F.
Austria, Vienna
Universität Wien
Handler, Gerald
Poland, Warsaw
Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Zwintz, Konstanze
Belgium, Leuven
Ku Leuven
Kallinger, Thomas
Unknown Affiliation
Popowicz, Adam
Unknown Affiliation
Ramiaramanantsoa, Tahina
Unknown Affiliation
Rowe, Jason F.
Unknown Affiliation
Zocłońska, Elzbieta
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 146
Authors: 17
Affiliations: 10
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1086/677236
ISSN:
00046280
Research Areas
Cancer
Health System And Policy