JOINT CENTER FOR ULTRAVIOLET ASTRONOMY
On march 21-24, 2023, This course will take place at the Complutense University of Madrid, together with the Spanish Aerospace Law Association with the collaboration of EuroSpaceHub
The I Congress of the Latin Lunar Lobby will offer an overview in the interest aroused by the Moon as a next destination, its scientific, technical and legal implications, new projects and the proposal to participate in the OUL (Ultraviolet Lunar Observatory).
The face-to-face NUVA meeting was held in Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain) from October 3rd to 7th, 2022 to address fundamental issues concerning the world-wide coordination of the UV astronomy community.
After the success of the NUVA virtual e-meeting held in October 2020, the NUVA has decided to organize an e-meeting, lasting 1-2 days, every year. The 2021 e-meeting was held on 26th and 27th October from JCUVA facilities
Go to the workshop page: https://www.nuva.eu/annualemeeting2021/
IAU resolution approved: on the use of a standard photometric system in UV Astronomy During the virtual Business Sessions last August, several resolutions were voted by the community. In particular, Resolution B4 on the use of a standard photometric system in ultraviolet (UV) astronomy was approved.
More info at: https://www.iau.org/news/announcements/detail/ann21040/
Download full text in PDF: ann21040d
MOON EXPLORATION EMEETING The 2nd June 2021 took place a emeeting to overview the Moon exploration in Space
More information: https://jcuva.ucm.es/exploracion_luna.html
VIRTUAL NUVA WORKSHOP 2020 The Network for Ultraviolet Astronomy organizes a workshop to coordinate international action.
The Workshop has been split into two events due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. The face-to-face meeting was moved to 2022 and a virtual meeting was held from October 27th-29th, 2020
Go to eMeeting web pae at: https://www.nuva.eu/home-virtual-meeting/
The testing of the engineering model of the Micro Channels Plate (MCP) detector to be used in the Field Camera Unit (FCU) on board the Spektr-UF / WSO-UV space telescope has started. These activities are the first step for preparing the qualification campaign that will take place during 2020.
Team members of the UCM AEGORA group and personnel from SENER company visited Photek premises in November this year and checked these activities in place. The FCU MCP detector transforms incoming UV photons into optical photons that are detected by a fast and configurable CMOS device. The development of this UV instrumentation represents an important technological challenge because it requires optics of nanometric precision and specific detectors with a strict control of any contamination.
The UCM is supervising the scientific aspects of the Far-Ultraviolet channel of the FCU, developing the necessary processing algorithms and coordinating the industrial activities within the overall instruments definition and integration with INASAN and others Russian partners.
3D image of the Spektr-UF / WSO-UV Field Camera Unit (FCU). The MCP detector of the FUV channel is seen in the red circle.
The UV radiation coming from the source gets amplified in the MCP and generates showers of photons.
Current activities focus on the analysis and characterisation of the centroids corresponding to these showers, as seen in the figure.
The commemoration day of the arrival of man on the moon on its 50th anniversary event, took place at the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC) in Robledo de Chavela, Madrid on 19th and 20th july, 2019.
MDSCC, is one of the three stations of the NASA deep space network – “from the Moon to there” – that completes the list with those of Goldstone (United States) and Canberra (Australia), the only network that communicates with the satellites of the US space agency. These places of maximum scientific interest were of paramount importance in this astronomical milestone of the arrival of man on the moon.
The principal investigator of JCUVA and Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences of the UCM, Ana Inés Gómez de Castro participated in these conferences as a speaker, as well as Anthony Carro, Ángel Martín Álvarez, David Montes and Carlos González Pintado, guided by professor Carlos César Álvarez Nebred.
More info at: https://www.agenciasinc.es/Reportajes/La-nueva-carrera-a-la-Luna-50-anos-despues
The Preliminary Design Review (PDR) meeting of the Spektr-UF /WSO-UV Field Camera Unit took place in INASAN (Moscow) on 20-May-2019, with attendees from Russia (INASAN, IKI, LA), Spain (UCM, SENER) and Japan (Rikkyo University). The current statuses of the Spektr-UF /WSO-UV project and the FCU instrument were presented. The baselines for the FCU optical and mechanical designs, electrical units and operational algorithms were also presented and reviewed. Finally, the feasibility of adding new channels with coronography capabilities was also considered.
As follow up of this PDR, the teams visited the WSO-UV AIV facilities located at NPO Lavochkin. In addition, scientific meetings and presentations were held during that week, regarding the preparatory observations belonging to the proposals that have been accepted in the first Core Program Call.
