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Optical Design of a Miniaturised Solar Magnetograph for Space Applications

Calcines Rosario, Ariadna; Green, Lucie M; Smith, Alan; Long, David M; (2023) Optical Design of a Miniaturised Solar Magnetograph for Space Applications. Aerospace , 10 (12) , Article 1028. 10.3390/aerospace10121028. Green open access

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Abstract

Measuring the Sun’s magnetic field is a key component of monitoring solar activity and forecasting space weather. The main goal of the research presented in this paper is to investigate the possibility of reducing the dimensions and weight of a solar magnetograph while preserving its optical quality. This article presents a range of different designs, along with their advantages and disadvantages, and an analysis of the optical performance of each. All proposed designs are based on the magneto-optical filter (MOF) technique. As a result of the design study, a miniaturised solar magnetograph is proposed with an ultra-compact layout. The dimensions are 345 mm × 54 mm × 54 mm, and the optical quality is almost at the diffraction limit. The design has an entrance focal ratio of F/17.65, with a plate scale of 83.58 arcsec/mm at the telescope image focal plane, and produces a magnification of 0.79. The field of view is 1920 arcsec in diameter, equivalent to ±0.27 degrees, sufficient to cover the entire solar disk.

Type: Article
Title: Optical Design of a Miniaturised Solar Magnetograph for Space Applications
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/aerospace10121028
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/aerospace10121028
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Solar magnetograph; space weather; space sciences; solar instrumentation; miniaturised optics
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10184214
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