The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) Mission Overview

Abstract

Atmospheric escape is a fundamental process that affects the structure, composition, and evolution of many planets. The signatures of escape are detectable on close-in, gaseous exoplanets orbiting bright stars, owing to the high levels of extreme-ultraviolet irradiation from their parent stars. The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) is a CubeSat mission designed to take advantage of the near-ultraviolet stellar brightness distribution to conduct a survey of the extended atmospheres of nearby close-in planets. The CUTE payload is a magnifying NUV (2479~--~3306 Ang) spectrograph fed by a rectangular Cassegrain telescope (206mm x 84mm); the spectrogram is recorded on a back-illuminated, UV-enhanced CCD. The science payload is integrated into a 6U Blue Canyon Technology XB1 bus. CUTE was launched into a polar, low-Earth orbit on 27 September 2021 and has been conducting this transit spectroscopy survey following an on-orbit commissioning period. This paper presents the mission motivation, development path, and demonstrates the potential for small satellites to conduct this type of science by presenting initial on-orbit science observations. The primary science mission is being conducted in 2022~--~2023, with a publicly available data archive coming on line in 2023.

12 pages, 5 figures, AJ - accepted

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Narrow loophole for H2-dominated atmospheres on habitable rocky planets around M dwarfs
• The on-orbit performance of the Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) Mission
• Hydride ion continuum hides absorption signatures in the NIRPS near-infrared transmission spectrum of the ultra-hot gas giant WASP-189b
• VERTECS: A COTS-based payload interface board to enable next generation astronomical imaging payloads
• Magnetohydrodynamic simulation assessment of a potential near-ultraviolet early ingress in WASP-189b
• The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) signal to noise calculator