PolarLight is a compact soft X-ray polarimeter onboard a CubeSat, which was launched into a low-Earth orbit on October 29, 2018. In March 2019, PolarLight started full operation, and since then, regular observations with the Crab nebula, Sco X-1, and background regions have been conducted. Here we report the operation, calibration, and performance of PolarLight in the orbit. Based on these, we discuss how one can run a low-cost, shared CubeSat for space astronomy, and how CubeSats can play a role in modern space astronomy for technical demonstration, science observations, and student training.
@article{arxiv.2009.00933,
title = {In-orbit Operation and Performance of the CubeSat Soft X-ray Polarimeter PolarLight},
author = {Hong Li and Xiangyun Long and Hua Feng and Qiong Wu and Jiahui Huang and Weichun Jiang and Massimo Minuti and Dongxin Yang and Saverio Citraro and Hikmat Nasimi and Jiandong Yu and Ge Jin and Ming Zeng and Peng An and Luca Baldini and Ronaldo Bellazzini and Alessandro Brez and Luca Latronico and Carmelo Sgro and Gloria Spandre and Michele Pinchera and Fabio Muleri and Paolo Soffitta and Enrico Costa},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.00933},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
accepted for publication in Advances in Space Research