Telescopes
TRACE IMAGING TELESCOPE
The TRACE imaging telescope is the sole science instrument on the spacecraft. Its primary science objectives are to: (1) follow the evolution of magnetic field structures from the solar interior to the corona; (2) investigate the mechanisms of the heating of the outer solar atmosphere; and, (3) determine the triggers and onset of solar flares and mass ejections. The 30 cm aperture Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) telescope on the TRACE mission uses four normal-incidence coatings for the EUV and UV on quadrants of the primary and secondary mirrors. The segmented coatings on solid mirrors form identically sized and perfectly coaligned images. Pointing is internally stabilized to 0.1 arc second against spacecraft jitter. A 1024 x 1024 CCD detector collects images over an 8.5 x 8.5 arc minute field-of-view (FOV). A powerful data handling computer enables very flexible use of the CCD array including adaptive target selection, data compression, and fast operation for a limited FOV. For more information on the TRACE telescope, see: http://vestige.lmsal.com/TRACE/Project/Instrument/insrument.htm Group: Instrument_Details Entry_ID: TRACE IMAGING TELESCOPE Group: Instrument_Identification Instrument_Category: Solar/Space Observing Instruments Instrument_Class: Photon/Optical Detectors Instrument_Type: Telescopes Short_Name: TRACE IMAGING TELESCOPE Long_Name: Transition Region and Coronal Explorer Telescope End_Group Group: Associated_Platforms Short_Name: TRACE End_Group Group: Spectral_Frequency_Information Wavelength_Keyword: Ultraviolet Number_Channels: 8 Spectral_Frequency_Coverage_Range: 284A - 2500A Spectral_Frequency_Resolution: 8.4 - 170 nm End_Group Online_Resource: http://trace.lmsal.com/Project/Instrument/insrument.htm Online_Resource: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experimentDisplay.do?id=1998-020A-01 Online_Resource: http://sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/ Sample_Image: http://trace.lmsal.com/Images/insphoto.gif Group: Instrument_Logistics Instrument_Start_Date: 1998-04-02 Instrument_Owner: USA/NASA Instrument_Owner: Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab End_Group End_Group