Design and performance of the high-resolution spectrograph sensor subsystem

Publisher Summary The high-resolution spectrograph (HRS) is one of five scientific instruments to be flown on the shuttle-launched space telescope (ST). Central to the functional operation of the HRS is a sensor subsystem comprised of two magnetically focused 512-channel digicon sensors. The HRS operates from 1050 to 3200 A at a maximum resolution of Δλ/λ = 10 5 when placed in the echelle mode. The image projected onto the digicon sensors consists of parallel spectra of echelle orders, with each order separated by approximately 1 mm. Scientific application of the HRS involves, for the most part, a detailed analysis of specific spectral line profiles. For this reason, every effort has been taken to assure quality photometric imagery in the HRS sensor. The digicon sensor system developed for the HRS exhibits excellent performance attributes and capabilities heretofore unachieved on space-qualified systems. The HRS digicon lifetime has been demonstrated to be far in excess of space telescope orbital requirements.