The information below will be updated as more precise data is received.

Technique: Wide field intensified cameras.
Example video from the 2001 Leonid MAC mission (no grating).

Scientific objective: To measure the total radiative output of the SRC during entry in the 400 - 900 nm band.

Instrument: Four cameras, two on both sides of the aircraft, consist of a 50 mm f2.8 Nikon lens, an XX1332 image intensifier with large 48 mm photocathode, and a Sony handycam camcorder (recording of video output on Hi-8 tape in NTSC format - 640 x 480 pixels). The lens can be equipped with a low-dispersion grating to generate 1st and higher order spectra, each containing a fraction of the light. This facilitates the measurement of luminosity when the zero order image saturates.

Heritage: These cameras were flown before to record meteors. The figure to the right shows the setup during the 2002 Leonid MAC mission, when an ESA camera was mounted on top. In this mission "PHOT" will be mounted on top of the INT1 camera.

Aircraft hardware requirements: Fixed mount. Electricity at window. Optional: operation on batteries.

Instrument validation tests: These cameras were flown before for near-real time flux measurements of meteor storms. The response of the low-dispersion grating to continuum sources was tested in laboratory conditions.

Sensitivity: With a 40 x 30 degree field of view, the star limiting magnitude is about +6.5 magnitude (with Moonlight).

Dynamic range: 8-bit (factor 256).

Frame rate and exposure times: 30 frames per second, 60 fields (odd, even, interlaced) per second. Exposure time is nearly 1/60s per field.

Spectral resolution - gives the FWHM of an instrument-broadened unresolved atomic spectral line:
Very low, about 25 nm.

Relative spectral response - gives the wavelength dependence of the intensifier. The Quantum Efficiency of the system depends somewhat on the angle of viewing through the window (near-UV cut-off) and the choice of objective grating:

wavelength:  Radiant sensitivity: 
   (nm)       (micro A/lm)
	
380	5.000
390	6.000
400	7.200
410	8.500
420	11.000
430	14.000
440	19.500
450	21.798
460	23.878
470	25.771
480	27.492
490	29.051
500	30.462
510	31.736
520	32.883
530	33.912
540	34.832
550	35.650
560	36.374
570	37.010
580	37.563
590	38.037
600	38.436
610	38.763
620	39.019
630	39.207
640	39.325
650	39.375
660	39.353
670	39.258
680	39.088
690	38.837
700	38.502
710	38.077
720	37.555
730	36.929
740	36.192
750	35.334
760	34.346
770	33.217
780	31.936
790	30.491
800	28.868
810	27.054
820	25.034
830	22.792
840	20.313
850	17.579
860	14.520
870	10.000
880	5.500
890	4.000