The near ultraviolet transient surveyor (NUTS): An ultraviolet telescope to observe variable sources

Observing the ultraviolet (UV) sky for time-varyiable phenomena is one of many exciting science goals that can be achieved by a relatively small aperture telescope in space. The Near Ultraviolet Transient Surveyor (NUTS) wide-field (3∘) imager with photon-counting detector near-UV (NUV, 200 – 300 nm), to flown on an upcoming satellite mission. It has Ritchey–Chrétien (RC) design correction optics enable observations while minimizing optical aberrations. We have used intensified CMOS solar blind photocathode, operated mode. main goal instrument observation transient sources UV, including flare stars, supernovae, and active galactic nuclei. NUTS’s size effective area unexplored, brighter parts UV which are usually not accessible larger missions. designed, fabricated, assembled instrument, final calibrations environmental tests being carried out. In this paper, we provide scientific motivation technical overview describe assembly calibration steps.