TY - JOUR
T1 - Miniaturized X-ray telescope for VZLUSAT-1 nanosatellite with Timepix detector
AU - Baca, T.
AU - Platkevic, M.
AU - Jakubek, J.
AU - Inneman, A.
AU - Stehlikova, V.
AU - Urban, M.
AU - Nentvich, O.
AU - Blazek, M.
AU - McEntaffer, R.
AU - Daniel, V.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
� 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa Medialab srl.
PY - 2016/10/14
Y1 - 2016/10/14
N2 - We present the application of a Timepix detector on the VZLUSAT-1 nanosatellite. Timepix is a compact pixel detector (256�256 square pixels, 55�55 μm each) sensitive to hard X-ray radiation. It is suitable for detecting extraterrestrial X-rays due to its low noise characteristics, which enables measuring without special cooling. This project aims to verify the practicality of the detector in conjunction with 1-D Lobster-Eye optics to observe celestial sources between 5 and 20 keV. A modified USB interface (developed by IEAP at CTU in Prague) is used for low-level control of the Timepix. An additional 8-bit Atmel microcontroller is dedicated for commanding the detector and to process the data onboard the satellite. We present software methods for onboard post-processing of captured images, which are suitable for implementation under the constraints of the low-powered embedded hardware. Several measuring modes are prepared for different scenarios including single picture exposure, solar UV-light triggered exposure, and long-term all-sky monitoring. The work has been done within Medipix2 collaboration. The satellite is planned for launch in April 2017 as a part of the QB50 project with an end of life expectancy in 2019.
AB - We present the application of a Timepix detector on the VZLUSAT-1 nanosatellite. Timepix is a compact pixel detector (256�256 square pixels, 55�55 μm each) sensitive to hard X-ray radiation. It is suitable for detecting extraterrestrial X-rays due to its low noise characteristics, which enables measuring without special cooling. This project aims to verify the practicality of the detector in conjunction with 1-D Lobster-Eye optics to observe celestial sources between 5 and 20 keV. A modified USB interface (developed by IEAP at CTU in Prague) is used for low-level control of the Timepix. An additional 8-bit Atmel microcontroller is dedicated for commanding the detector and to process the data onboard the satellite. We present software methods for onboard post-processing of captured images, which are suitable for implementation under the constraints of the low-powered embedded hardware. Several measuring modes are prepared for different scenarios including single picture exposure, solar UV-light triggered exposure, and long-term all-sky monitoring. The work has been done within Medipix2 collaboration. The satellite is planned for launch in April 2017 as a part of the QB50 project with an end of life expectancy in 2019.
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U2 - 10.1088/1748-0221/11/10/C10007
DO - 10.1088/1748-0221/11/10/C10007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84991693821
SN - 1748-0221
VL - 11
JO - Journal of Instrumentation
JF - Journal of Instrumentation
IS - 10
M1 - C10007
ER -
