We present a near-UV space telescope on a ~70kg micro-satellite with a moderately fast repointing capability and a near real-time alert communication system that has been proposed in response to a call for an ambitious Czech national mission. The mission, which has recently been approved for Phase 0, A, and B1 study shall measure the brightness evolution of kilonovae, resulting from mergers of neutron stars in the near-UV band and thus it shall distinguish between different explosion scenarios. Between the observations of transient sources, the satellite shall perform observations of other targets of interest, a large part of which will be chosen in open competition.
@article{arxiv.2207.05485,
title = {Quick Ultra-VIolet Kilonova surveyor (QUVIK)},
author = {N. Werner and J. Řípa and F. Münz and F. Hroch and M. Jelínek and J. Krtička and M. Zajaček and M. Topinka and V. Dániel and J. Gromeš and J. Václavík and L. Steiger and V. Lédl and J. Seginak and J. Benáček and J. Budaj and N. Faltová and R. Gális and D. Jadlovský and J. Janík and M. Kajan and V. Karas and D. Korčáková and M. Kosiba and I. Krtičková and J. Kubát and B. Kubátová and P. Kurfürst and M. Labaj and Z. Mikulášek and A. Pál and E. Paunzen and M. Piecka and M. Prišegen and T. Ramezani and M. Skarka and G. Szász and C. Thöne and M. Zejda},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2207.05485},
year = {2022}
}