ASTROSAT is an all-astronomy satellite that is being prepared for launch in 2008 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The payload will be several X-ray telescopes plus two 40cm eparture UV telescopes, all co-aligned except for an all-sky X-ray monitor. The UV telescopes are called the UVIT, and will provide filter imaging plus grism observations of half-degree fields, with approximately 1 to 1.5 arcsec resolution, simultaneously in FUV, NUV, and Blue-visible bandpasses.
CSA has entered a formal collaboration with ISRO to provide the photon-counting detectors for the UVIT telescopes. The hardware contract is now under way with Routes Astro-engineering in Ottawa. I am the PI and work with a science team of about 12 colleagues from across Canada. We are working closely with the other instrument teams and contractors in India and the UK. The science team is responsible for the calibration of the detectors, and this will be conducted at the UV vacuum lab at the University of Calgary, with participation by some of the Indian UVIT team. We have recently been awarded an NSERC SRO grant to support the team activities for 3 years.
While the science team will participate in early observations and team time observing with the observatory, there will be guaranteed time for all Canadians during the 5 year (or longer) mission, which includes data from all instruments on board. This facility may well be the only UV instrument available at the time, so represents a significant opportunity for us in the next few years. The resolution and field of view match well to ground-based data, and offer a high resolution follow-up to the all-sky survey from the GALEX mission.
John Hutchings