Hemispheric Ultraviolet Background Explorer

Abstract

The "Explorador Hemisférico Del Espectro U/V" (HUBE) is a proposed joint Argentinean-American ultraviolet-astronomy earth-orbiting satellite to be launched early in the coming millennium (which is only a few years away!). In the exploration of the cosmos at multiple wavelengths, which began with radio astronomy following World War II, there is only one substantial regime remaining almost totally unexplored: the diffuse (repeat, diffuse) ultraviolet. Small and simple instruments that can be accommodated aboard a Pegasus or similar rocket can map the sky in the diffuse ultraviolet, leading to important new knowledge for astronomy. This will include mapping of emission from highly-ionized interstellar gas, mapping of emission from interstellar molecular hydrogen fluorescing in the ultraviolet, mapping of ultraviolet starlight scattering from interstellar dust, and perhaps mapping of ultraviolet radiation from intergalactic space: the integrated light of distant galaxies, and perhaps more exotic sources: hydrogen Lyman alpha recombination radiation, radiation from the re-heating phase of the intergalactic medium, or even radiation from decaying dark-matter particles (if such exist!) such as neutrinos. I will outline the scientific and technical character of the mission, with particular emphasis on the many areas for active Argentinean participation. I am seeking to create active Argentinean participation where at the moment none exists.