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The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a heavily modified Boeing 747SP aircraft, accommodating a 2.7 meter infrared telescope. This airborne observation platform operates at flight altitudes of up to 13.7 km (45,000 ft) and therefore allows a nearly unobstructed view of the visible and infrared universe at wavelengths between 0.3 µm and 1600 µm. The Focal Plane Imager (FPI+) is SOFIA’s main tracking camera. It uses a commercial, off-the-shelf camera with a thermoelectrically cooled EM-CCD. The back-illuminated sensor has a peak quantum efficiency greater than 95% at 550 nm and the dark current is as low as 0.01 e-/pix/sec. Since 2015, the FPI+ has been available to the community as a Facility Science Instrument, and can be used to observe stellar occultations by solar system objects such as dwarf planets, moons, asteroids, and comets, and transits of extra-solar planets. To date, SOFIA has conducted multi-channel observations of occultations, e.g. the occultation by Pluto in June of 2015 or the occultation by Triton in October 2017, using three instruments, HIPO and FLITECAM at the main instrument flange of the telescope, and the FPI+. This multi-wavelength sampling is important for enabling discrimination of particle sizes and constituents of hazes in the atmosphere of bodies such as Pluto and Triton, and the coma material of comets. Multi-wavelength observations also serve to allow us to place constraints on the chemical compositions of these formations. After the retirement of the two other instruments, the FPI+ is now SOFIA’s only remaining observing tool for occultations. In order to preserve some of the multi-color observing capability of the platform, we here discuss the addition of a second spectral channel to the FPI+. In a first upgrade step, a beamsplitter will split the incoming light and send it to two EMCCD cameras, one working in the ”blue”, e.g. SLOAN g’ band, and the other working in the ”red”, e.g. SLOAN i’ or z’ band. In a second upgrade step, the ”red” channel could be equipped with a NIR camera in order to provide a wider wavelength separation of the two bands. This will however require a modified dichroic coating on the tertiary (Nasmyth) mirror of the SOFIA telescope. This paper presents a preliminary design study of the opto-mechanical configuration of the dual channel FPI+.

A stellar occultation by the large trans-Neptunian object (90482) Orcus was predicted to occur on 2017 March 07. Observations were made at five sites in North and South America. High-speed, visible-wavelength images were taken at all sites, in addition to simultaneous K-band images at one location. Solid-body occultations were observed from two sites. Post-event reconstruction suggested an occultation of two different stars observed from two different sites. Follow-up, speckle imaging at Gemini Observatory revealed a second star, which verified that the occulting body in both cases was Orcus` satellite, Vanth. The two single-chord detections, with an anomalously large timing delay in one chord, have lengths of 291+/-125 km and 434.4+/-2.4 km. The observations, combined with a non-detection at a nearby site, allow a tight constraint of 443+/-10 km to be placed on Vanth`s size (assuming it is spherical). A 3-{\sigma} upper limit of 1-4 {\mu}bar (depending on constituent) is found for a global Vanth atmosphere. The immersion and emersion profiles are slightly different, with atmospheric constraints 40 percent higher on immersion than on emersion. No rings or other material were detected within ten thousand kms of Vanth, and beyond 8010 km from Orcus, to the tightest optical depth limit of approximately 0.1 at 5 km scale. The occultation probed as close as 5040 km from Orcus, placing an optical depth limit of approximately 0.3 at 5 km scale on any encircling material at that distance., Comment: 37 Pages; 12 Figures; 3 Tables

Context. Irregular satellites of Jupiter with their highly eccentric, inclined and distant orbits suggest that their capture took place after the giant planet migration. Aims. We aim to improve our understanding of the surface composition of irregular satellites of Jupiter to gain insight into a narrow time window when our solar system was forming. Methods. We observed three Jovian irregular satellites, Himalia (JVI), Elara (JVII), and Carme (JXI), using a medium-resolution 0.8–5.5 µm spectrograph, SpeX on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF). Using a linear spectral unmixing model we have constrained the major mineral phases on the surface of these three bodies. Results. Our results confirm that the surface of Himalia (JVI), Elara (JVII), and Carme (JXI) are dominated by opaque materials such as those seen in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Our spectral modeling of NIR spectra of Himalia and Elara confirm that their surface composition is the same and magnetite is the dominant mineral. A comparison of the spectral shape of Himalia with the two large main C-type asteroids, Themis (D ~ 176 km) and Europa (D ~ 352 km), suggests surface composition similar to Europa. The NIR spectrum of Carme exhibits blue slope up to 1.5 µm and is spectrally distinct from those of Himalia and Elara. Our model suggests that it is compositionally similar to amorphous carbon. Conclusions. Himalia and Elara are compositionally similar but differ significantly from Carme. These results support the hypotheses that the Jupiter’s irregular satellites are captured bodies that were subject to further breakup events and clustered as families based on their similar physical and surface compositions. M.B. is funded by the Indian Space Research Organization through its post doctoral program.... Work by V.R. was funded by NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics grants NNX14AN05G and NNX14AN35G. E.A.C. thanks the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Manitoba Research Innovations Fund, the Canadian Space Agency, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the University of Winnipeg for supporting the establishment and operation of the Planetary Spectrophotometer Facility. https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2017/12/aa30361-16/aa30361-16.html

Schindler, K. et. al., Context. A stellar occultation by a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) provides an opportunity to probe the size and shape of these distant solar system bodies. In the past seven years, several occultations by TNOs have been observed, but mostly from a single location. Only very few TNOs have been sampled simultaneously from multiple locations. Sufficient data that enable a robust estimation of shadow size through an ellipse fit could only be obtained for two objects. Aims. We present the first observation of an occultation by the TNO 2007 UK126 on 15 November 2014, measured by three observers, one nearly on and two almost symmetrical to the shadow's centerline. This is the first multi-chord dataset obtained for a so-called detached object, a TNO subgroup with perihelion distances so large that the giant planets have likely not perturbed their orbits. We also revisit Herschel/PACS far-infrared data, applying a new reduction method to improve the accuracy of the measured fluxes. Combining both datasets allows us to comprehensively characterize 2007 UK126. Methods. We use error-in-variable regression to solve the non-linear problem of propagating timing errors into uncertainties of the ellipse parameters. Based on the shadow's size and a previously reported rotation period, we expect a shape of a Maclaurin spheroid and derive a geometrically plausible size range. To refine our size estimate of 2007 UK126, we model its thermal emission using a thermophysical model code. We conduct a parametric study to predict far-infrared fluxes and compare them to the Herschel/PACS measurements. Results. The favorable geometry of our occultation chords, combined with minimal dead-time imaging, and precise GPS time measurements, allow for an accurate estimation of the shadow size (best-fitting ellipse with axes 645.80 +/- 5.68 km x 597.81 +/- 12.74 km) and the visual geometric albedo (p(V) = 15.0 +/- 1.6%). By combining our analyses of the occultation and the far-infrared data, we can constrain the effective diameter of 2007 UK126 to d(eff) = 599-629 km. We conclude that subsolar surface temperatures are in the order of approximate to 50 55 K., K.S. has been supported financially by a one-year fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) during his stay at NASA Ames Research Center, CA as part of his Ph.D. research. K.S. would also like to thank the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) for their support throughout his thesis. T.M., C.K. and J.L.O. have received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement No. 687378. C.K. has been supported by the PECS grant # 4000109997/13/NL/KML of the Hungarian Space Office and the European Space Agency, the K-104607 grant of the Hungarian Research Fund (OTKA), and the GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016 00003 grant of the National Research, Development and Innovation Office of Hungary (NKFIH). J.L.O. acknowledges support from Proyecto de Excelencia J.A. 2012-FQM1776.

This paper presents the results of a mission concept study for an autonomous micro-scale surface lander also referred to as PANIC - the Pico Autonomous Near-Earth Asteroid In Situ Characterizer. The lander is based on the shape of a regular tetrahedron with an edge length of 35 cm, has a total mass of approximately 12 kg and utilizes hopping as a locomotion mechanism in microgravity. PANIC houses four scientific instruments in its proposed baseline configuration which enable the in situ characterization of an asteroid. It is carried by an interplanetary probe to its target and released to the surface after rendezvous. Detailed estimates of all critical subsystem parameters were derived to demonstrate the feasibility of this concept. The study illustrates that a small, simple landing element is a viable alternative to complex traditional lander concepts, adding a significant science return to any near-Earth asteroid (NEA) mission while meeting tight mass budget constraints., 16 pages, 5 figures

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a 2.5-meter infrared telescope built into a Boeing 747SP. In 2014 SOFIA reached its “Full Operational Capability” milestone and nowadays takes off about three times a week to observe the infrared sky from altitudes above most of the atmosphere's water vapor content. Despite reaching this major milestone, efforts to improve the observatory's performance are continuing in many areas. The team of the Deutsches SOFIA Institut, DSI (German SOFIA Institute) at the SOFIA Science Center in Moffett Field, CA works in several engineering areas to improve the observatory's performance and its efficiency. DSI supports the allocation process of SOFIA's observation time for guest observers, provides and supports two facility science instruments and conducts an observing program of stellar occultations by small objects of the solar system. This paper summarizes results and ongoing work on a spare secondary mirror made of aluminum, the new and improved Focal Plane Imager (FPI+) that has become a facility science instrument, the Field-Imaging Far-Infrared Line Spectrometer (FIFI-LS), new cameras and optics for the Fine Field and Wide Field Imagers (FFI+ and WFI+), real-time astrometric solution of star field images, ground support equipment and astronomical observations.

This paper gives a summary on the system concept and design of the focal plane assembly of AsteroidFinder/SSB, a small satellite mission which is currently under development at the German Aerospace Center (DLR). An athermal design concept has been developed in accordance to the requirements of the instrument and spacecraft. Key aspects leading to this approach have been a trade-off study of the mechanical telescope interface, the definition of electrical and thermal interfaces and a material selection which minimizes thermally induced stresses. As a novelty, the structure will be manufactured from a machinable AlN-BN composite ceramic. To enable rapid design iterations and development, an integrated modeling approach has been used to conduct a thermo-mechanical analysis of the proposed concept in order to prove its feasibility. The steady-state temperature distribution for various load cases and the resulting stress and strain within the assembly have both been computed using a finite element simulation., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures

A new test bench for detector and camera characterization in the visible and near-infrared spectral range between 350 -2500 nm has been setup at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS). The detector under study is illuminated by an integrating sphere that is fed by a Czerny-Turner monochromator with quasi-monochromatic light. A quartz tungsten halogen lamp is used as a light source for the monochromator. Si- and InGaAs-based photodiodes have been calibrated against secondary reference standards at PTB (Germany), NPL (UK) and NRC (Canada) for precise spectral flux measurements. The test bench allows measurements of fundamental detector properties such as linearity of response, conversion gain, full well capacity, quantum efficiency (QE), fixed pattern noise and pixel response non-uniformity. The article will focus on the commissioning of the test bench and subsequent performance evaluation and characterization of a commercial camera system with a 640 x 480 InGaAs-detector, sensitive between 900 to 1650 nm. The study aimed at the potential use of InGaAs cameras in ground-based and airborne astronomical observations or as target acquisition and tracking cameras in the NIR supporting infrared observations at longer wavelengths, e.g. on SOFIA. An intended future application of the test bench in combination with an appropriate test dewar is the characterization of focal plane assemblies for imaging spectrometers on spacecraft missions, such as the VIS-SWIR channel of MAJIS, the Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer aboard JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer).

This paper presents the mission profile as well as the optical configuration of the space-borne AsteroidFinder telescope. Its main objective is to retrieve asteroids with orbits interior to Earth’s orbit. The instrument requires high sensitivity to detect asteroids with a limiting magnitude of equal or larger than 18.5mag (V-Band) and astrometric accuracy of 1arcsec (1σ). This requires a telescope aperture greater than 400cm², high image stability, detectors with high quantum efficiency (peak > 90%) and very low noise, which is only limited by zodiacal background. The telescope will observe the sky between 30° and 60° in solar elongation. The telescope optics is based on a Cook type TMA. An effective 2°×2° field of view (FOV) is achieved by a fast F/3.4 telescope with near diffraction-limited performance. The absence of center obscuration or spiders in combination with an accessible intermediate field plane and exit pupil allow for efficient stray light mitigation. Design drivers for the telescope are the required point spread function (PSF) values, an extremely efficient stray light suppression (due to the magnitude requirement mentioned above), the detector performance, and the overall optical and mechanical stability for all orientations of the satellite. To accommodate the passive thermal stabilization scheme and the necessary structural stability, the materials selection for the telescope main structure and the mirrors are of vital importance. A focal plane with four EMCCD detectors is envisaged. The EMCCD technology features shorter integration times, which is in favor regarding the pointing performance of the satellite. The launch of the mission is foreseen for the year 2013 with a subsequent mission lifetime of at least 1 year.