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The SOFIA/SAFIRE Far-Infrared Spectrometer: Highlighting Submillimeter Astrophysics and TechnologyThe Submillimeter and Far-InfraRed Experiment (SAFIRE) on the SOFIA airborne observatory is an imaging spectrometer for wavelengths between 28 microns and 440 microns. Our design is a dual-band long-slit grating spectrometer, which provides broadband (approx. 4000 km/s) observations in two lines simultaneously over a field of view roughly 10" wide by 320" long. The low backgrounds in spectroscopy require very sensitive detectors with noise equivalent powers of order 10(exp -18) W/square root of Hz. We are developing a kilopixel, filled detector array for SAFIRE in a 32 x 40 format. The detector consists of a transition edge sensor (TES) bolometer array, a per-pixel broadband absorbing backshort array, and a NIST SQUID multiplexer readout array. This general type of array has been used successfully in the GISMO instrument, so we extrapolate to the sensitivity needed for airborne spectroscopy. Much of the cryogenic, electronics, and software infrastructure for SAFIRE have been developed. I provide here an overview of the progress on SAFIRE.
Document ID
20090026970
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Benford, Dominic J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
Publication Information
Publisher: Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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