Communication Systems
Part 3: Instruments:
Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) will provide the highest-resolution images from Epsilon Erdini. It consists of a telescope with an 8.2-inch (20.8-centimeter) aperture that focuses visible light onto a charge coupled device (CCD).
LORRI characteristics
Visible Panchromatic Imager
Telescope Aperture 208 mm
Focal Length 2630 mm
Passband 0.35 – 0.85 μm
Field-of-view 0.29o × 0.29o
Instantaneous field-of-view 4.95 μrad
Back-thinned, frame transfer CCD
Nominal exposure times 50-200 ms
On-chip 4×4 pixel binning available
The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, or COS
Spectrographs are instruments that break light into colors and measure the intensity of each color, revealing information about the object emitting the light (Used on Hubble). The information they produce is typically plotted, creating zigzagging lines that scientists examine for clues about an object's temperature, density, velocity, chemical composition, and more.
COS focuses exclusively on ultraviolet light and is the most sensitive ultraviolet spectrograph ever produced for space. Its installation improved the telescope's sensitivity at least 10 times in ultraviolet light and up to 70 times when looking at extremely faint objects.
Cosmic Dust Collectors:
Similar to the SDC (Student Dust Counter). Built and operated by students; measures the space dust peppering New Horizons during its voyage across the solar system and outer space.