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The Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) is the main imaging system onboard the European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) which was launched on 14 March 2016. CaSSIS is intended to acquire moderately high resolution (4.6 m/pixel) targeted images of Mars at a rate of 10–20 images per day from a roughly circular orbit 400 km above the surface. Each image can be acquired in up to four colours and stereo capability is foreseen by the use of a novel rotation mechanism. A typical product from one image acquisition will be a 9.5 km × ∼ 45 km swath in full colour and stereo in one over-flight of the target thereby reducing atmospheric influences inherent in stereo and colour products from previous high resolution imagers. This paper describes the instrument including several novel technical solutions required to achieve the scientific requirements.

The European Space Agency’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) seeks to investigate the biological or geological origin of trace gases found on Mars. The TGO carries a payload of four instruments in order to reach its scientific goals, including the Colour and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS). CaSSIS is a colour and stereo telescopic camera that will be capable of taking high-resolution images of the martian surface. Before shipment of the instrument for integration onto the TGO, a detailed calibration campaign was performed, and a number of calibration products were gathered and utilised as part of the in-flight calibration campaign. This paper presents the results of on-ground calibration measurements carried out in order to assess the pre-flight performance of CaSSIS. All indications are that CaSSIS will perform very well on arrival at Mars and will be successful in reaching its scientific objectives.

The Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) is one of the modules of EChO, the Exoplanets Characterization Observatory proposed to ESA for an M-class mission. EChO is aimed to observe planets while transiting by their suns. Then the instrument had to be designed to assure a high efficiency over the whole spectral range. In fact, it has to be able to observe stars with an apparent magnitude Mv = 9–12 and to see contrasts of the order of 10−4–10−5 necessary to reveal the characteristics of the atmospheres of the exoplanets under investigation. VNIR is a spectrometer in a cross-dispersed configuration, covering the 0.4–2.5 μm spectral range with a resolving power of about 330 and a field of view of 2 arcsec. It is functionally split into two channels respectively working in the 0.4–1.0 μm and 1.0–2.5 μm spectral ranges. Such a solution is imposed by the fact the light at short wavelengths has to be shared with the EChO Fine Guiding System (FGS) devoted to the pointing of the stars under observation. The spectrometer makes use of a HgCdTe detector of 512 by 512 pixels, 18 μm pitch and working at a temperature of 45 K as the entire VNIR optical bench. The instrument has been interfaced to the telescope optics by two optical fibers, one per channel, to assure an easier coupling and an easier colocation of the instrument inside the EChO optical bench.

An on-going project for a photochemical facility at the DAFNE-L laboratory at the Frascati National Laboratories of INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) is presented. Such a facility takes advantage from the combined capabilities of two different synchrotron radiation beam-lines. The first operates in the visible-UV and is used as a strong excitation and irradiation light-source in which both intensity and spectral range can be selected to fulfil the experiment requirements. The second is an infrared beamline equipped by FTIR micro-spectroscopy and imaging facility. An optical fiber allows UV irradiation of samples directly into the FTIR interferometer or the microscope. Thus, fast photo-chemical reactions can be analysed in real time, letting unveil inter-phases not normally observable by analysing the reagents and products of the reaction itself. Complex unstable systems can be irradiated and analysed without changing the sample condition (morphology, humidity, irradiation etc.). Preliminary experiments, validating most of the facility capability, will be presented.

The WSO-UV space observatory, an UV-optimized 1.7 m Ritchey-Chretien telescope, will investigate many astrophysical phenomena from planetary science to cosmology. The Field Camera Unit is a multi-spectral radial instrument on the focal plane of WSO-UV. It will have three channels covering the wide spectral range from 115 nm to 800 nm and it will be operated in imaging, low-resolution spectroscopic, polarimetric and spectro-polarimetric modes. This paper will discuss and review the main characteristics and the present status of this instrument.

An on-going project for a photochemical facility at the DAFNE-L laboratory at the Frascati National Laboratories of INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) is presented. Such a facility takes advantage from the combined capabilities of two different synchrotron radiation beam-lines. The first operates in the visible-UV and is used as a strong excitation and irradiation light-source in which both intensity and spectral range can be selected to fulfil the experiment requirements. The second is an infrared beamline equipped by FTIR microspectroscopy and imaging facility. An optical fiber allows UV irradiation of samples directly into the FTIR interferometer or the microscope. Thus, fast photo-chemical reactions can be analysed in real time, letting unveil inter-phases not normally observable by analysing the reagents and products of the reaction itself. Complex unstable systems can be irradiated and analysed without changing the sample condition (morphology, humidity, irradiation etc.). Preliminary experiments, validating most of the facility capability, will be presented.

Observations of the phase curves and secondary eclipses of extrasolar planets provide a window on the composition and thermal structure of the planetary atmospheres. For example, the photometric observations of secondary eclipses lead to the measurement of the planetary geometric albedo \\(A_g\\), which is an indicator of the presence of clouds in the atmosphere. In this work we aim to measure the \\(A_g\\) in the optical domain of WASP-43b, a moderately irradiated giant planet with an equilibrium temperature of \\(\\)1400~K. To this purpose, we analyze the secondary eclipse light curves collected by CHEOPS, together with TESS observations of the system and the publicly available photometry obtained with HST WFC3/UVIS. We also analyze the archival infrared observations of the eclipses and retrieve the thermal emission spectrum of the planet. By extrapolating the thermal spectrum to the optical bands, we correct the optical eclipses for thermal emission and derive the optical \\(A_g\\). The fit of the optical data leads to a marginal detection of the phase curve signal, characterized by an amplitude of \\(16060\\)~ppm and 80\\(^+60_-50\\)~ppm in the CHEOPS and TESS passband respectively, with an eastward phase shift of \\(50^\\) (1.5\\(\\) detection). The analysis of the infrared data suggests a non-inverted thermal profile and solar-like metallicity. The combination of optical and infrared analysis allows us to derive an upper limit for the optical albedo of \\(A_g<0.087\\) with a confidence of 99.9\\%. Our analysis of the atmosphere of WASP-43b places this planet in the sample of irradiated hot Jupiters, with monotonic temperature-pressure profile and no indication of condensation of reflective clouds on the planetary dayside.

The Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) is one of the modules of EChO, the Exoplanets Characterization Observatory proposed to ESA for an M-class mission. EChO is aimed to observe planets while transiting by their suns. Then the instrument had to be designed to assure a high efficiency over the whole spectral range. In fact, it has to be able to observe stars with an apparent magnitude Mv= 9-12 and to see contrasts of the order of 10-4 - 10-5 necessary to reveal the characteristics of the atmospheres of the exoplanets under investigation. VNIR is a spectrometer in a cross-dispersed configuration, covering the 0.4-2.5 micron spectral range with a resolving power of about 330 and a field of view of 2 arcsec. It is functionally split into two channels respectively working in the 0.4-1 and 1.0-2.5 micron spectral ranges. Such a solution is imposed by the fact the light at short wavelengths has to be shared with the EChO Fine Guiding System (FGS) devoted to the pointing of the stars under observation. The spectrometer makes use of a HgCdTe detector of 512 by 512 pixels, 18 micron pitch and working at a temperature of 45K as the entire VNIR optical bench. The instrument has been interfaced to the telescope optics by two optical fibers, one per channel, to assure an easier coupling and an easier colocation of the instrument inside the EChO optical bench.

At the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) an infrared (IR) array detector with fast response time has been built and assembled in order to collect the IR image of e-/e+ sources of the DANE collider. Such detector is made by 32 bilinear pixels with an individual size of 50x50 m2 and a response time of ~1 ns. In the framework of an experiment funded by the INFN Vth Committee dedicated to beam diagnostics, the device with its electronic board has been tested and installed on the DANE positron ring. A preliminary characterization of few pixels of the array and of the electronics has been carried out at the IR beamline SINBAD at DANE. In particular the detection of the IR source of the e- beam has been observed using four pixels of the array acquiring signals simultaneously with a four channels scope at 1 GHz and at 10 Gsamples/s. The acquisition of four pixels allowed monitoring in real time differences in the bunch signals in the vertical direction. A preliminary analysis of data is presented and discussed. In particular we will outline the correlation between signals and displacements of the source occurring with bunch refilling during a complete shift of DANE.

Bunch-by-bunch longitudinal diagnostics is a key issue of modern accelerators. To face up this challenging demand, tests of mid-IR compact uncooled photoconductive HgCdTe detectors have been recently performed at DAFNE. Different devices were used to monitor the emission of e- bunches. The first experiments allowed recording of 2.7 ns long e- bunches with a FWHM of a single pulse of about 600 ps. These results address the possibility to improve diagnostics at DAFNE and to this purpose an exit port on a bending magnet of the positron ring has been set-up. An HV chamber, hosting a gold-coated plane mirror that collects and deflects the radiation through a ZnSe window, is the front-end of this port. After the window, a simple optical layout in air allows focusing IR radiation on different detectors. The instrumentation will allow comparison in the sub-ns time domain between the two rings and to identify and characterize bunch instabilities. Moreover, to improve performances tests of new photovoltaic detectors with sub-ns response times are in progress. We will briefly summarize the actual status of the 3+L experiment and will discuss future applications of fast IR photovoltaic detectors and the development of fast IR array detectors.