The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph: On-Orbit Instrument Performance

Authors :: Osterman, S.
Green, J.
Froning, C.
Béland, S.
Burgh, E.
France, K.
Penton, S.
Delker, T.
Ebbets, D.
Sahnow, D.
Bacinski, J.
Kimble, R.
Andrews, J.
Wilkinson, E.
McPhate, J.
Siegmund, O.
Ake, T.
Aloisi, A.
Biagetti, C.
Diaz, R.
Dixon, W.
Friedman, S.
Ghavamian, P.
Goudfrooij, P.
Hartig, G.
Keyes, C.
Lennon, D.
Massa, D.
Niemi, S.
Oliveira, C.
Osten, R.
Proffitt, C.
Smith, T.
Soderblom, D.
Publication Year :: 2010
Abstract: The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) was installed in the Hubble Space Telescope in May, 2009 as part of Servicing Mission 4 to provide high sensitivity, medium and low resolution spectroscopy at far- and near-ultraviolet wavelengths (FUV, NUV). COS is the most sensitive FUV/NUV spectrograph flown to date, spanning the wavelength range from 900{\AA} to 3200{\AA} with peak effective area approaching 3000 cm^2. This paper describes instrument design, the results of the Servicing Mission Orbital Verification (SMOV), and the ongoing performance monitoring program.<br />Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Astrophysics and Space Science