Abstract
To accomplish its mission, the spaceborne observatory SNAP (SuperNova Acceleration Probe) requires a pointing stability of <0.03 arcseconds during exposures lasting up to 500 sec. A Monte Carlo simulation of the photoelectron statistics from the guiding star investigates geometrical (such as the pixel size of the detector or the plate scale) and physical parameters (such as the magnitude of the star). It is shown that simple centroiding calculations can lead to the desired accuracy with guide stars as faint as magnitude 16. Availability of these stars is verified thanks to the HST Guide Star Catalog complemented with a statistical model of the distribution of stars. Thus a through-the-lens sensor that uses stars as faint as magnitude 16 to provide the necessary guiding signals is feasible.
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Secroun, A., Lampton, M. & Levi, M. A High-accuracy, Small Field of View Star Guider with Application to SNAP. Experimental Astronomy 12, 69–85 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016391518972
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016391518972