Scatter studies for visible emission line coronagraph on board ADITYA-L1 mission

Abstract

Visible emission line coronagraph (VELC) on board ADITYA-L1 mission is an internally occulted mirror coronagraph designed for solar coronal observations over a field of view (FOV) of 1.05 Ro to 3 Ro. To achieve the proposed science goals, instrument background should be less than 5 ppm over the FOV of VELC. Major contributor toward instrument background is scatter from surface microroughness and particulate contamination over the primary mirror (M1). Hence, a detailed study of scatter through simulations is carried out to arrive at the surface microroughness specifications and surface cleanliness level requirements of M1. Estimation of RMS microroughness correction factor due to finite band width of the profilometer is very important while specifying the RMS microroughness of M1. This paper discusses in detail about scatter simulations, results, and analysis. All simulations are carried out using Advanced System Analysis Program, developed by Breault Research Organization.