Stellar occultation experiment with the CASSINI VIMS instrument

Marc Walch; David W. Juergens; Steve Anthony; Philip D. Nicholson

doi:10.1117/12.138989

5 January 1993 Stellar occultation experiment with the CASSINI VIMS instrument

Marc Walch, David W. Juergens, Steve Anthony, Philip D. Nicholson

Proceedings Volume 1762, Infrared Technology XVIII; (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.138989
Event: San Diego '92, 1992, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The VIMS instrument (Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) will be flown in the late 1990s on the CASSINI mission to Saturn and its moons. VIMS is designed to generate two-dimensional multispectral images of planetary surfaces and their features in the visible and infrared spectra. Compared to earth-based instruments, the stellar occultation experiment will provide unprecedented thickness resolution and chemical composition of planetary atmospheres. It will also gather high SNR optical depth profiles and particle size distribution of the Saturnian rings. The stellar occultation mode ideally requires continuous data acquisition for periods of up to several hours as the instrument stares at a star. This presents a sizeable challenge to the instrument's operational mode: processes that normally occur during mirror retrace must be shifted to data acquisition cycles, thereby creating timing difficulties in the sequencing of these cycles. The presentation focuses on the analysis of the stellar occultation mode and presents solutions to the challenge of an uninterrupted data stream. Several options will be presented that minimize any possible degradation of the experiment's science content.

Citation Download Citation

Marc Walch, David W. Juergens, Steve Anthony, and Philip D. Nicholson "Stellar occultation experiment with the CASSINI VIMS instrument", Proc. SPIE 1762, Infrared Technology XVIII, (5 January 1993); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.138989

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