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[88.10] The Far-Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph on KAISTAT-4

K.W. Min (KAIST), J. Edelstein (UCB), E. Korpela, W.V. Dixon (UCB), J.H. Seon (KAIST), W.Y. Han, U.W. Nam (KAO)

The Far-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (FIMS), a joint project of the University of California, Berkeley, The Korea Aerospace Institute of Science and Technology, and the Korea Astronomy Observatory, will conduct observations of diffuse far ultra-violet (900 - 1800 /AA) cosmic emission. FIMS observations will: 1) trace the energy flow through the hot plasmas found on scales ranging from SN bubbles to galaxies and galactic coronae; 2) map the distribution of the local and global structures of 10^4.5 - 10⁶ K plasma; and 3) Measure the nature, distribution and life cycle of galactic H2 and dust. FIMS's broad band-pass and 1 - 2 /AA spectral resolution provide the diagnostics necessary to disentangle the effects of both abundance variations and ionization equilibrium. The instrument's imaging and background-rejection will yield far-UV emission-line sensitivity that is an order of magnitude fainter than any previous detection. FIMS is the primary payload on the KAITSAT-4 satellite, a 3-axis stabilized platform that will provide both an all-sky survey and a target-pointing program. The mission is scheduled for launch in 2002.

The development of FIMS has supported to date by KAIST, KAO and SSL, UCB.