The SPICA (SPace Infrared Telescope for Cosmology & Astrophysics) project is a next-generation infrared space telescope optimized for mid- and far-infrared observation with a cryogenically cooled 3m-class telescope. It will achieve the high resolution as well as the unprecedented sensitivity from mid to far-infrared range. The FPC (Focal Plane Camera) proposed by KASI as an international collaboration is a near-infrared instrument. The FPC-S and FPC-G are responsible for the scientific observation in the near-infrared and the fine guiding, respectively. The FPC-G will significantly reduce pointing error down to below 0.075 arcsec through the observation of guiding stars in the focal plane. We analyzed the pointing requirement from the focal plane instruments as well as the error factors affecting the pointing stability. We also obtained the expected performance in operation modes. We concluded that the FPC-G can achieve the pointing stability below 0.075 arcsec which is the requirement from the focal plane instruments.

The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth within the inner radiation belt, where high-energy protons are produced by collisions of cosmic rays to the upper atmosphere. About 6 astronauts stay in the ISS for a long period, and it should be important to monitor and assess the radiation environment in the ISS. The tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) is an instrument to measure the impact of radiation on the human tissue. KASI is developing a TEPC as a candidate payload of the ISS. Before the detailed design of the TEPC, we performed simulations to test whether our conceptual design of the TEPC will work propertly in the ISS and to predict its performance. The simulations estimated that the TEPC will measure the dose equivalent of about 1:1 mSv during a day in the ISS, which is consistent with previous measurements.

The reimaging optics of the KASINICS (KASI Near Infrared Camera System) includes many transparent components like an entrance window, band-pass filters, and blocking filters. As observational targets or in-field background objects, bright stars may cause optical ghosts that can significantly degrade the system performance of the KASINICS. We estimated analytically the relative brightness of ghost components with respect to a point source and examined the effects of tilting optical components as a method of suppressing ghosts. We also performed numerical ray tracings including all the optical components and found the results are consistent with those of the analytic estimations. We conclude that the KASINICS will not suffer from significant ghost effects with appropriate anti-reflection coatings and fittings for the optical components.

We are often faced with the task of having to estimate the amplitude of a source signal in the presence of a background. In the simplest case, the background can be taken as being flat, and of unknown magnitude B, and the source signal of interest assumed to be the amplitude A of a peak of known shape and position. We present a robust method to find the most probable values of A and B by applying the one-dimensional Newton-Raphson method. In the derivation of the formula, we adopted the Bayesian statistics and assmumed Poisson distribution so that the results could be applied to the analysis of very weak signals, as observed in FIMS (Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrogaph).

We present measurements of interstellar H2 absorption lines in the continuum spectra of 54 early-type stars in the Galactic disk and halo and 3 stars in the Magellanic Clouds. The data were obtained with the Berkeley Extreme and Far-Ultraviolet Spectrometer (BEFS), part of the ORFEUS telescope, which flew on the ORFEUS-SPAS I and II space-shuttle missions in 1993 and 1996, respectively. The spectra extend from the interstellar cutoff at 912＼AA to about 1200＼AA with a spectral resolution of ∼3000 and statistical signal-to-noise ratios between 10 and 65. Assuming a velocity profile derived from optical observations (when available), we model the column densities N(J) of the rotational levels J = 0 through 5 for each line of sight. Our data reproduce the relationships among molecular and total hydrogen column density, fractional molecular abundance, and reddening first seen in Copernicusobservations of nearby stars (Savage et al. 1977). The results show that most of these molecular clouds have H2 total column densities between 1015cm−2 and 1021cm−2, and kinetic temperatures from 21 K to 232 K, with average of 89 K, consistent with the result of Copernicus (Savage et al. 1977).

We have calculated 2448 interstellar cloud models to investigate the formation and destruction of high rotational level H2 according to the combinations of five physical conditions: the input UV intensity, the H2 column density, cloud temperature, total density, and the H2 formation rate efficiency. The models include the populations of all the accessible states of H2 with the rotational quantum number J < 16 as a function of depth through the model clouds, and assume that the abundance of H2 is in a steady state governed primarily by the rate of formation on the grain surfaces and the rates of destruction by spontaneous fluorescent dissociation following absorption in the Lyman and Werner band systems. The high rotational levels J = 4 and J = 5 are both populated by direct formation into these levels of newly created molecules, and by pumping from J = 0 and J = 1, respectively The model results show that the high rotational level ratio N(4)/N(0) is proportional to the incident UV intensity, and is inversely proportional to the H2 molecular fraction, as predicted in theory.

The FIMS (Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph; also known as SPEAR, Spectroscopy of Plasma Evolution from Astrophysical Radiation) is the primary payload of the STSAT-1, the first Korean science satellite, which was launched in September, 2003. The FIMS performs spectral imaging of diffuse far-ultraviolet emission with the unprecedented wide field of view and the relatively good spectral resolution. We present far-ultraviolet spectral observations of highly ionized interstellar medium including supernova remnants, superbubbles, soft X-ray shadows, and the molecular hydrogen fluorescent emission lines. The FIMS has detected He II, C III, 0 III, O IV, Si IV, O VI, and H2 fluorescent emission lines. The emission lines arise in shocked or thermally heated and in photo-ionized gases. We present an overview of the FIMS instrument and its initial observational results.

An imaging spectrograph concept optimized for extended far-ultraviolet emission sources is presented. Although the design was originally developed for FIMS aboard the first Korean science satellite STSAT-l launched on September 27, 2003, no rigorous theoretical background of the spectrograph design has been published. The spectrograph design employs an off-axis parabolic cylinder mirror in front of a slit that guides lights to a diffraction grating. The concave grating provides moderate spatial resolution over a large field of view. This mapping capability is absent in most astronomical instruments but is crucial to the understanding of the nature of a variety of astrophysical phenomena. The aberration theory presented in this paper can be extended to holographic gratings in order to improve the spatial as well as the spectral resolutions.

In this paper, the intensity ratio of [O I] λ6300 and Hα lines, which plays an important role in the study of warm (or diffuse) ionized interstellar medium, is calculated assuming collisional ionization equilibrium (or coronal equilibrium). The calculated ratio is compared with the previous works, and with the observations, obtained by Reynolds (1989) and Reynolds et al. (1998) with the Wisconsin Ha Mapper facility, toward the directions that sample the faint interstellar emission-line background. The comparison confirms that most of the Ha originates from nearly fully ionized regions along the lines of sight rather than from partially ionized H I clouds or layers of H II on the surfaces of H I clouds.