We report on the successful sounding rocket flight of the high resolution (R=3000-4000) J-PEX EUV spectrometer. J-PEX is a novel normal incidence instrument, which combines the focusing and dispersive elements of the spectrometer into a single optical element, a multilayer-coated grating. The high spectral resolution achieved has had to be matched by unprecedented high spatial resolution in the imaging microchannel plate detector used to record the data. We illustrate the performance of the complete instrument through an analysis of the 220-245Å spectrum of the white dwarf G191-B2B obtained with a 300 second exposure. The high resolution allows us to detect a low-density ionized helium component along the line of sight to the star and individual absorption lines from heavier elements in the photosphere.

Date Published: 24 February 2003
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 4854, Future EUV/UV and Visible Space Astrophysics Missions and Instrumentation, (24 February 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.459810

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4854:
Future EUV/UV and Visible Space Astrophysics Missions and Instrumentation
J. Chris Blades; Oswald H. W. Siegmund, Editor(s)