During the summer of 1991 (part of the Science Verification (SV) period) substantial changes in certain FOS photocathode granularity patterns (flatfields) were observed, particularly for FOS/RD. Detailed monitoring during the remainder of the period prior to the First Servicing Mission (January 1, 1992, through December 15, 1993) revealed moderate variations in flatfield combined with overall time- and OTA focus-dependent changes in instrument sensitivity.
29.3.2 Optical Layout
Figure 29.1 shows an optical layout of the FOS. Light entered the FOS through a pair of entrance ports roughly 490" off the optical axis of HST. The light from the object of interest then passed through one of the two independent optical channels, each of which focused nearly stigmatic spectral images on the photocathode of a photon-counting Digicon detector. These two channels differed only in the wavelength sensitivity of their respective detectors, and were referred to as FOS/RD (or Red Side) and FOS/BL (Blue Side). The FOS aperture wheel, located at the HST focal surface, contained separate sets of single or paired apertures (including one blank for background measurements) for each detector which ranged in size from 0.1" to 4.3" (pre-COSTAR) projected onto the sky. From the aperture wheel the optical beam then passed through the polarization analyzer (which included a clear aperture for non-polarimetric observations) and on to the grazing incidence mirror, a roof prism, which deflected the beam 22 degrees upward. This deflection was required in order to allow the apertures to be placed near the HST optical axis to minimize astigmatism, while meeting the packaging constraints within the FOS. The deflected beam then passed through an order-sorting filter, when required, in the fore part of the filter-grating wheel, and on to an off-axis paraboloidal mirror which collimated the beam and directed it back to the filter-grating wheel. The beam was then dispersed or imaged (for the one imaging position). and focused onto the detector by the selected element on the filter-grating wheel.
29.3.3 Detectors
As described above, the FOS had two Digicon detectors with independent optical paths (Figure 29.1). The Digicons operated by accelerating photoelectrons emitted from a two-dimensional transmissive photocathode onto a linear array of 512 silicon diodes. All 512 FOS diodes were exposed by dispersed light, i.e., none of the diodes were dedicated to background measurement or other purposes. The photoelectron pulses were counted (if a pulse had an amplitude above a programmable threshold) in each of the individual diode channels. A separate microprocessor for each detector controlled the electronics, mechanisms, and Digicons. The counts were summed in microprocessor memory for a mode-dependent preset time and then read from the FOS to the HST computer.
The bi-alkali (Na2 KSb) blue detector (FOS/BL) photocathode on a magnesium fluoride faceplate was sensitive from 1150 Å to 5400 Å, while the tri-alkali (Na2 KSb Cs) red Digicon (FOS/RD) photocathode on a fused silica faceplate covered the wavelength range from 1620 Å to 8500 Å. Figure 29.2 shows the quantum efficiencies of both detectors. Note that the graphs in Figure 29.2 are illustrative only; the plotted values are not accurate enough for quantitative use in data analysis. The general characteristics of FOS/BL and FOS/RD are compiled in Table 29.2.
Both photocathodes had spatial irregularities in response (granularity) and localized blemishes that could limit the S/N achieved. These spatially variable features could be removed with appropriate flatfielding provided adequate care was taken in target centering. The diodes themselves also had small response irregularities that were of little consequence and were also removed by routine flatfielding.
Figure 29.2: Detector Quantum Efficiencies
Detector Characteristics
1
Post-COSTAR telescope movement commanding assumed mean of x and y values as the mean plate-scale for each detector.
29.3.4 Apertures
The entrance aperture mechanism allowed selection of any one of twelve apertures for each detector. Table 29.3 lists the apertures.
The FOS aperture naming convention was to use the pre-COSTAR aperture size as aperture designation for all observing epochs despite the 16% scale magnification introduced by the COSTAR optics. There was a large aperture for acquiring targets using on-board software (pre-COSTAR: 4.3" x 4.3"; post-COSTAR: 3.7" x 3.7"; designation 4.31). Since the diode array extended only 1.29" (1.43" pre-COSTAR) in the direction perpendicular to the dispersion, this largest aperture had an effective collecting area of 3.7" x 1.29" (pre-COSTAR: 4.3" x 1.43"). Other apertures included several circular apertures with sizes 0.86" (1.0), 0.43" (0.5), and 0.26" (0.3), as well as paired (UPPER and LOWER) square apertures with sizes 0.86" (1.0-PAIR), 0.43" (0.5-PAIR), 0.21" (0.25-PAIR), and 0.09" (0.1-PAIR), for isolating spatially resolved features and for measuring the sky. In addition, a slit and two barred apertures were available (Figure 29.3 and Table 29.3). Separate aperture sets existed for FOS/BL and FOS/RD. Aperture size measurements were performed both pre-launch and on-orbit. Precise aperture sizes were reported in FOS ISRs 019 and 138, for the pre- and post-COSTAR cases, respectively. Aperture positioning repeatability was extremely accurate.
Aperture Center Locations
Before COSTAR was installed, all SINGLE FOS apertures were assumed to be concentric and all spacecraft-centering operations used this assumption. Post-COSTAR SMOV calibrations indicated that the 1.0 and smaller SINGLE apertures were concentric, but that the 4.3 aperture was slightly offset, particularly for FOS/RD, from this center. This offset affected the positional accuracy determined by ACQ/BINARY and required that different flatfields be employed for the 4.3 than for the other SINGLE apertures. The degree of uncertainty in this small offset also affected precise positional determination based upon 4.3 aperture imaging or ACQ/BINARY alone. Pre-COSTAR telescope commanding assumed that the mid-point between each set of paired apertures was concentric with the SINGLE apertures. Post-COSTAR measurements led to the adoption of aperture locations that placed all of the "A" apertures at a common center, all of the "B" apertures (all SINGLE) at a slightly displaced common center, and the "C" apertures at another common center. The 1.0-PAIR apertures were slightly displaced from all of the other paired apertures and required separate flatfields. The individual components of paired apertures were separated by approximately 2.57". All post-COSTAR telescope commanding after May 30, 1994 included these aperture location offsets. 29.3.5 Dispersers
FOS dispersers provided both "high" spectral resolution (1-6 Å-diode-1, / 1300) and "low" spectral resolution (6-25 Å-diode-1, / 250). Their designations and basic properties are presented in Table 29.4. Full optical specification of the FOS dispersers is found in Harms et al., SPIE, 183, 74, 1989 and FOS ISR 127. The actual spectral resolution depended on the point spread function of HST, the dispersion, the aperture, and whether the target was physically extended. Representative line widths are given in Table 29.5.
Unlike the apertures, the same dispersers were used with both FOS/BL and FOS/RD. The dispersers and appropriate blocking filters were mounted on the Filter Grating Wheel (FGW) which always rotated in the same direction to specified locations in the beam. Due to the physical nature of the mechanism involved, the repeatability of FGW positioning in the beam was not as precise as for aperture positioning. For certain types of FOS observations, FGW positional uncertainty is an important "error source" (see Chapter 33 and FOS ISRs 131, 142, and 145.
29.3.6 Detector Geometry
From the photocathode, electrons were deflected magnetically without magnification onto the diode array of the Digicon. In this way the electronic image of the light transmitted by the aperture was projected onto the diode array. The relative size of the different apertures as they were projected onto a section of the diode array is shown in panel (a) of Figure 29.3, which is displayed from the perspective of an observer positioned directly "behind" the detector looking out toward the sky. The individual diodes were 50 x 200 microns in physical dimension which corresponded to spacings of 0".31 (post-COSTAR) or 0".35 (pre-COSTAR) along the dispersion direction and height of 1".29 (1".43) perpendicular to it. In the FOS detector coordinate system (and throughout this handbook) dispersion lies along the x-direction. The x-coordinate is always defined positive to the left in the sense of Figure 29.3. Wavelength always increased with increasing x for FOS/BL gratings, but always decreased with increasing x for FOS/RD gratings and vice versa for the prisms. The y-axis of the FOS coordinate frame was perpendicular to the dispersion and was defined positive toward the "top" of the detector as shown. (As one "looks through the detector toward the sky," if east were aligned toward the +x-axis, then north was aligned with the +y-axis.) The lower paired apertures were closest to the optical axis of HST.
Panel (b) of Figure 29.3 shows three other apertures-two occulting bars and one slit-which were nearly concentric with the 4.3 aperture. Panel (c) shows the orientation of the +y-axis in the (V2,V3) plane for the post-COSTAR era.
COSTAR introduced a 180 degree rotation of the telescope (V2,V3) coordinate frame, not the instrument (x,y) frame. Therefore, before COSTAR, the (V2,V3) coordinate frame was rotated 180 degrees with respect to the orientations shown in Figure 29.3. The angle between FOS/BL and FOS/RD slit orientations (+y-directions) was always 73.6 degrees.
The deflection of the photoelectrons was controlled by an internal magnetic field, which in turn depended on a high-voltage setting. The unit of distance in the y-direction was the so-called Y-base unit. The high voltage was adjusted so that a deflection of 256 Y-base units corresponded to the 200 micron physical height of the diodes (both pre and post-COSTAR). The photocathode coordinate system extended from -2048 to +2048 Y-base units. Each disperser directed incoming light onto a different location on the photocathode as shown in Figure 29.4.
29.3.7 Waveplates and Polarizers
The FOS polarization analyzer positioned one of three elements into the optical path; a clear aperture, a thin magnesium fluroide waveplate (plate "B") plus Wollaston prism assembly, or a thick MgFl waveplate (plate "A") plus Wollaston prism assembly. One waveplate was permanently located in front of each Wollaston, however the waveplate could be rotated so as to alter the position angle of the waveplate fast axis relative to the Wollaston, in increments of 22.5 degrees. The polarimetry appendix of FOS Instrument Handbook version 1.1 presents a technical description of the FOS polarimeter.
1
The FWHM are given in units of diodes. A pre-COSTAR diode was 0.356" wide and 1.43" high. A post-COSTAR diode was 0.305" wide and 1.29" high.
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29.3.8 Internal Wavelength Calibration
Two Pt-Ne hollow-cathode lamps provided emission line spectra for calibrating the FOS wavelength scales. The lamp beams passed through the same optics as an external source, but they did not fill the collimator. As a result, it was possible to have an offset in the photocathode position of any particular wavelength in the dispersed internal beam and the dispersed external beam. This internal to external wavelength offset is discussed in more detail in "Wavelength Calibration" on page 32-49. Due to the effect of the FGW positional uncertainty mentioned in "Dispersers" on page 29-11, highly accurate FOS external wavelengths could be determined only with the aid of an internal WAVECAL exposure taken immediately before or after the science exposure with no intervening movement of the FGW.
Figure 29.3: Post-COSTAR Aperture Sizes Projected On Diode Array Viewed from Behind Detector Looking toward Sky
29.3.9 Data Acquisition Fundamentals
The FOS had several parameters that could be altered to change the way data was accumulated and read out. These parameters are summarized in Table 29.6.
To maximize the science data output from the FOS, routine data-taking commanding oversampled spectra and shifted the object spectrum with respect to the diode array during several subintegrations. These two procedures were called substepping and overscanning.
Figure 29.4: Approximate Location of Spectra on the Photocathode.
For overscanning, the process of substepping was continued over more than one diode in the dispersion direction. A complete round of substepping was performed for each overscan step. The number of overscan steps performed was determined by the overscan parameter (header keyword OVERSCAN). Each time a given wavelength position was deflected onto and measured by a new overscan diode, its counts were co-added into the same memory location in the FOS microprocessor. When using the full 512-element diode array, the result was a spectrum with 512 * NXSTEPS plus a small number (NXSTEPS x (OVERSCAN - 1)) of edge pixels. Each pixel (excluding the edge pixels) had data contributed from the number of diodes specified by OVERSCAN. Thus, substepping changed the number of pixels in the final spectrum; and overscanning principally changed the number of diodes that contributed to a single pixel. Although the number of diodes in the diode array was 512, the actual number of diodes read out could be restricted via a wavelength range specification in certain modes. The number of pixels in any observation is given by the equation:
Dashed Lines Represent Red Detector, Solid Lines Represent Blue Detector
Note: Due to this FOS-specific substepping, the typical effective exposure per
pixel in any FOS observation was the total observation exposure time divided by
NXSTEPS. A few (i.e., NXSTEP*(OVERSCAN-1), typically 16, "edge" pixels
had even less effective exposure.
29.3.10 Photon Counting Characteristics
The FOS Digicons were photon counting detectors. The output of the diodes was stored in 16-bit accumulators within the FOS microprocessor. These accumulators were readout at intervals defined by the detector and the data-taking mode, e.g., roughly every two minutes for FOS/RD ACCUM. Sufficiently bright sources could produce more than 65535 counts (216-1) in an interval and thereby suffer one, or more, occurrences of accumulator "wrap around." (see "unwrap" on page 33-11).
29.3.11 Other Characteristics
To minimize external influences on the magnetic deflection of electrons from the photocathode onto the diode array, both Digicons were magnetically shielded. However-especially for FOS/RD-the shielding was inadequate. Thus, telescope orientation relative to the Earth's magnetic field influenced the magnetic deflection characteristics of the FOS. This produced a geomagnetically induced image motion (GIM, occasionally referred to as GIMP). A post-observation pipeline correction algorithm corrected for this effect in the x-direction only prior to April 5, 1993. In order to minimize this effect, on-board software was implemented on April 5, 1993, to compensate for this error in both detector coordinates. Residual uncertainties remained, however, which affected the calibration accuracy of the instrument, as described further in "Geomagnetically Induced Image Motion (GIM)" on page 32-14.
The FOS Y-bases-the amount of magnetic deflection necessary to direct the photoelectrons from the photocathode onto the diode array-did not remain constant over the FOS lifetime due to hysteresis in the repeated magnetization and de-magnetization cycling of the Digicons. The detectors accumulated residual magnetization over time that required progressively larger deflections to steer the photoelectrons onto the diode array. Uncertainties in the Y-base values remain an important limitation on photometric accuracy (see "Y-bases" on page 32-7 and "Image Centering (Image Location) Factors" on page 32-22).
29.3.12 Influence of COSTAR on FOS Data
COSTAR was installed in HST during the First Servicing Mission in December 1993 to correct the spherical aberration of the HST primary mirror. COSTAR restored the point spread function (PSF) to nearly the HST design specifications. Aperture throughputs were also dramatically improved. For example, the throughputs of the 4.3, 1.0, and 0.3 apertures increased by factors of 1.3, 2.0, and 2.5, respectively. The throughput increase for the 4.3 aperture was compensated to a large extent by losses due to the two additional reflections, but small aperture relative throughput improvements allowed much of the original FOS science program goals to be pursued post-COSTAR, particularly in those programs that required excellent small aperture PSFs and LSFs.
stevens@stsci.edu Copyright © 1997, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. All rights reserved. Last updated: 01/14/98 14:27:00