Electronic Magnification for Astronomical Camera Tubes: Final Report

This is the final report on Contract NAS5-20511 with the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA. The program's objectives are to define, analyze and test schemes to provide variable magnification in the image section of the television sensor for the Large Space Telescope (LST). The reference sensor for the study is the Westinghouse WX32193 SEC camera tube. The principal result of the computational study is a clear definition of the form of magnetic field distribution necessary to achieve magnification in the range 3X to 4X. Coil systems to establish the required field shapes were built, and both image intensifiers and camera tubes were operated at high magnification. The experiments confirmed that such operation is practical and can provide satisfactory image quality. The main problem is identified as heating of the photocathode due to concentration of coil power dissipation in that vicinity. Suggestions for overcoming this problem are made.