Mr. Nicholas J. Nell Profile

Nicholas J. Nell

Instrument Engineer at Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (24)

SPIE Journal Paper | 4 April 2024

Far- and Lyman-ultraviolet imaging demonstrator: a rocket-borne pathfinder instrument for high efficiency ultraviolet band selection imaging

Nicholas Nell, Nicholas Kruczek, Kevin France, Stefan Ulrich, Patrick Behr, Emily Farr

JATIS, Vol. 10, Issue 02, 024001, (April 2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.10.2.024001

KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Equipment, Telescopes, Sensors, Microchannel plates, Ultraviolet radiation, Point spread functions, Optical coatings, Galactic astronomy, Design

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Proceedings Article | 9 November 2023 Presentation + Paper

Lyman-ultraviolet imaging filter development for the FLUID rocket payload

Emily Farr, Nicholas Kruczek, Kevin France, Nicholas Nell, Patrick Behr, Stefan Ulrich, Juan Larruquert, Carlos Honrado-Benítez, Paloma López-Reyes

Proceedings Volume 12678, 126780T (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677932

KEYWORDS: Tunable filters, Rockets, Image filtering, Optical filters, Galactic astronomy, Far ultraviolet, Ultraviolet radiation, Telescopes, Copper, Spatial resolution

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We present laboratory reflectivity results of two novel optical filters designed for the Lyman ultraviolet bandpass (LUV; 90-120 nm) and the far ultraviolet bandpass (FUV; 120-150 nm). These filters were developed in coordination with the Grupo de Óptica de Láminas Delgadas (GOLD) at the Instituto de Óptica-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientìficas for the Far- and Lyman-Ultraviolet Imaging Demonstrator (FLUID) sounding rocket payload. In addition to maturing high priority band-selecting UV filter technology, FLUID will measure the LUV and far ultraviolet (FUV; 120-200 nm) morphologies of nearby galaxies in four imaging bands to provide local analogs for JWST observations of high redshift galaxies. Images in the LUV will be used to make the first ever morphological classifications of local galaxies in this bandpass. FLUID comprises four f /28.7 Cassegrain telescopes with ⪅3 arcsecond angular resolution over a 20 arcminute wide field-of-view. Each telescope receives a unique band-defining filter covering the LUV through FUV (approximately 15 nm FWHM band centered on 105 nm, and 20 nm FWHM bands centered on 140 nm, 160 nm, or 180 nm). These filters are multilayer reflectance filters, and were developed by GOLD in collaboration with CU Boulder. Evaluation of the F140M filter and the Lyman alpha (Ly-α; 121.6 nm) suppressing F110M filter witness samples, as well as the secondary and primary mirrors, were completed with optical testing facilities at both GOLD and CU. We present the measured efficiencies of the F110M optics, which all demonstrate reflectivites ⪅3% at Ly-α while maintaining ⪆40% reflectivity at 105 nm, and the F140M optics, which show show peak reflectivities for 140 nm greater than 87%. These values are used to estimate the performance of the FLUID instrument in this band. Additionally we will conduct further testing of all four filters, as well as testing age and environmental stability of the filters over the course of the project.

Proceedings Article | 5 October 2023 Presentation + Paper

FLUID: a rocket-borne pathfinder instrument for high efficiency UV band selection imaging

Nicholas Nell, Nicholas Kruczek, Kevin France, Stefan Ulrich, Patrick Behr, Emily Farr

Proceedings Volume 12678, 1267807 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677781

KEYWORDS: Mirrors, Telescopes, Microchannel plates, Ultraviolet radiation, Galactic astronomy, Charge-coupled devices, Rockets, Optical coatings, Design and modelling

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Proceedings Article | 5 October 2023 Presentation + Paper

The SISTINE-3 sounding rocket payload: calibration and in-flight performance

Patrick Behr, Nicholas Nell, Nicholas Kruczek, Stefan Ulrich, Kevin France, Brian Fleming

Proceedings Volume 12678, 1267805 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2676920

KEYWORDS: Far ultraviolet, Stars, Ultraviolet radiation, Microchannel plates, Silicon, Exoplanets, Spectrographs, Rockets, Mirrors, Telescopes

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Proceedings Article | 5 October 2023 Presentation + Paper

Far-ultraviolet spectroscopy on the Arcus x-ray probe

Kevin France, Brian Fleming, Laura Brenneman, Randall Smith, Joel Bregman, Nancy Brickhouse, Hans Moritz Günther, Todd Tripp, Dolon Bhattacharyya, Timothy Hellickson, Nicholas Nell, Thomas Patton, Katja Poppenhaeger, Pasqualle Temi

Proceedings Volume 12678, 126780F (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677332

KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Galactic astronomy, X-rays, Stars, Far ultraviolet, Equipment, Spectroscopy, Spectrographs, Astrophysics, Spectral resolution

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Proceedings Article | 5 October 2023 Presentation + Paper

The Arcus ultraviolet spectrograph (UVS): technical design of the far-ultraviolet spectrograph on the Arcus probe

Brian Fleming, Kevin France, Tom Patton, Timothy Hellickson, Nicholas Nell, Randall Smith, Peter Cheimets

Proceedings Volume 12678, 126780G (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677948

KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Spectrographs, Equipment, Microchannel plates, Contamination, Design and modelling, Reflectivity, Optical coatings, Observatories, Mirrors

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Proceedings Article | 24 August 2021 Poster + Paper

Development and characterization of the CCD detector for the Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) cubesat

Nicholas Nell, Nicholas DeCicco, Stefan Ulrich, Kevin France, Brian Fleming

Proceedings Volume 11821, 1182117 (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2594743

KEYWORDS: Charge-coupled devices, Electronics, Clocks, Analog electronics, Quantum efficiency, Sensors, CCD image sensors, Amplifiers, Calibration, Switches

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Proceedings Article | 24 August 2021 Presentation + Paper

The assembly, calibration, and predicted performance of the SISTINE-2 sounding rocket payload

Fernando Cruz Aguirre, Nicholas Nell, Nicholas Kruczek, P. C. Hinton, Matthew Bridges, Kevin France, Brian Fleming

Proceedings Volume 11821, 118210H (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2594393

KEYWORDS: Stars, Sensors, Mirrors, Exoplanets, Calibration, Spectrographs, Microchannel plates, Telescopes, Spectral resolution, Atomic layer deposition, Far ultraviolet

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SPIE Journal Paper | 23 February 2021

DEUCE: a sounding-rocket ultraviolet spectrograph for flux-calibrated B star observations across the Lyman limit

Nicholas Erickson, James Green, Nicholas Nell, Brian Fleming, Emily Witt, Kevin France, John Stocke

JATIS, Vol. 7, Issue 01, 015002, (February 2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.7.1.015002

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Stars, Extreme ultraviolet, Telescopes, Ultraviolet radiation, Spectrographs, Microchannel plates, Calibration, Quantum efficiency, Mirrors

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Proceedings Article | 13 December 2020 Presentation + Paper

Optical characterization of the Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE) CubeSat

Arika Egan, Kevin France, Brian Fleming, Nicholas DeCicco, Stefan Ulrich, Nicholas Nell, Dmitry Vorobiev, Richard Kohnert, Ambily Suresh

Proceedings Volume 11444, 1144406 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2559983

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Ultraviolet radiation, Telescopes, Space operations, Atmospheric modeling, Atmospheric sciences, Exoplanets, Near ultraviolet, Spectroscopes, Mirrors

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Proceedings Article | 9 September 2019 Presentation + Paper

The Dual-channel Extreme Ultraviolet Continuum Experiment: Sounding rocket EUV observations of local B stars to determine their potential for supplying intergalactic ionizing radiation

Nicholas Erickson, James Green, Kevin France, John Stocke, Nicholas Nell, Brian Fleming, Emily Witt

Proceedings Volume 11118, 111180S (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2527931

KEYWORDS: Stars, Extreme ultraviolet, Ionization, Rockets, Telescopes, Galactic astronomy, Microchannel plates, Modeling

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Proceedings Article | 9 September 2019 Paper

In-flight performance of a 200mm x 200mm microchannel plate detector

James Green, Nicholas Nell, Nicholas Erickson, Brian Fleming, Kevin France, Adrian Martin, Oswald Siegmund, John Vallerga

Proceedings Volume 11118, 111180O (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2527697

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Microchannel plates, Extreme ultraviolet, Spectrographs, Quantum efficiency, Stars, Light scattering, Atomic layer deposition, Physics, Sensor performance

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Proceedings Article | 6 July 2018 Presentation + Paper

The Colorado ultraviolet transit experiment (CUTE): final design and projected performance

Arika Egan, Brian Fleming, Kevin France, Nicholas Nell, Stefan Ulrich, Nicholas DeCicco, Richard Kohnert, A. G. Sreegith, Luca Fossati, Nicholas Kruczek

Proceedings Volume 10699, 106990C (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2309990

KEYWORDS: Space operations, Space telescopes, Telescopes, Exoplanets, Spectrographs, Aluminum, Ultraviolet radiation, Atmospheric monitoring

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Proceedings Article | 6 July 2018 Presentation + Paper

The fourth flight of CHESS: spectral resolution enhancements for high-resolution FUV spectroscopy

Nicholas Kruczek, Nicholas Nell, Kevin France, Keri Hoadley, Brian Fleming, Stefan Ulrich, Alexander Miller, Arika Egan, Emily Witt, Robert Kane

Proceedings Volume 10699, 106990K (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312877

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Spectral resolution, Microchannel plates, Spectrographs, Reflectivity

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SPIE Journal Paper | 6 February 2018

Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment: a dedicated CubeSat mission to study exoplanetary mass loss and magnetic fields

Brian Fleming, Kevin France, Nicholas Nell, Richard Kohnert, Kelsey Pool, Arika Egan, Luca Fossati, Tommi Koskinen, Aline Vidotto, Keri Hoadley, Jean-Michel Desert, Matthew Beasley, Pascal Petit

JATIS, Vol. 4, Issue 01, 014004, (February 2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JATIS.4.1.014004

KEYWORDS: Space operations, Ultraviolet radiation, Sensors, Magnetism, Atmospheric modeling, Telescopes, Spectral resolution, Mirrors, Planets, Exoplanets

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Proceedings Article | 29 August 2017 Presentation + Paper

The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE): a dedicated cubesat mission for the study of exoplanetary mass loss and magnetic fields

Brian Fleming, Kevin France, Nicholas Nell, Richard Kohnert, Kelsey Pool, Arika Egan, Luca Fossati, Tommi Koskinen, Aline Vidotto, Keri Hoadley, Jean-Michel Desert, Matthew Beasley, Pascal Petit

Proceedings Volume 10397, 103971A (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2276138

KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Magnetism, Jupiter, Calibration, Charge-coupled devices, Exoplanets, Near ultraviolet, Atmospheric modeling, Atmospheric sciences, Aerospace engineering

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Proceedings Article | 29 August 2017 Paper

The third flight of the Colorado high-resolution echelle stellar spectrograph (CHESS): improvements, calibrations, and preliminary results

Nicholas Kruczek, Nicholas Nell, Kevin France, Keri Hoadley, Brian Fleming, Robert Kane, Stefan Ulrich, Arika Egan, Dawson Beatty

Proceedings Volume 10397, 103971G (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2274834

KEYWORDS: Spectrographs, Calibration, Spectral calibration, Rockets, Astrophysics, Hardware testing, Far ultraviolet

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Proceedings Article | 27 July 2016 Paper

Characterization of an ultraviolet imaging detector with high event rate ROIC (HEROIC) readout

Nicholas Nell, Kevin France, Alex Harwit, Scott Bradley, Steve Franka, Ed Freymiller, Dennis Ebbets

Proceedings Volume 9915, 99152L (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233816

KEYWORDS: Readout integrated circuits, Microchannel plates, Sensors, Image sensors, Photon counting, Aerospace engineering, Ultraviolet radiation, Opacity, Sensors, Photodiodes, Lamps

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Proceedings Article | 11 July 2016 Paper

SISTINE: a pathfinder for FUV imaging spectroscopy on future NASA astrophysics missions

Brian Fleming, Kevin France, Nicholas Nell, Nicholas Kruczek, Robert Kane, James Green, Manuel Quijada, Javier Del Hoyo, Oswald Siegmund

Proceedings Volume 9905, 99050A (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232249

KEYWORDS: Ultraviolet radiation, Mirrors, Spectrographs, Polarization, Wave plates, Magnesium, Coating, Magnetism, Cameras, Zeeman effect

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Proceedings Article | 11 July 2016 Paper

The re-flight of the Colorado high-resolution Echelle stellar spectrograph (CHESS): improvements, calibrations, and post-flight results

Keri Hoadley, Kevin France, Nicholas Kruczek, Brian Fleming, Nicholas Nell, Robert Kane, Jack Swanson, James Green, Nicholas Erickson, Jacob Wilson

Proceedings Volume 9905, 99052V (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232242

KEYWORDS: Spectrographs, Spectral calibration, Calibration, Microchannel plates, Spectral resolution, Etching, Sensors, Silicon, Clouds, Optical design

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Proceedings Article | 24 July 2014 Paper

The assembly, calibration, and preliminary results from the Colorado high-resolution Echelle stellar spectrograph (CHESS)

Keri Hoadley, Kevin France, Nicholas Nell, Robert Kane, Ted Schultz, Matthew Beasley, James Green, Jen Kulow, Eliot Kersgaard, Brian Fleming

Proceedings Volume 9144, 914406 (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055661

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Calibration, Optical alignment, Spectrographs, Collimators, Cameras, Microchannel plates, Clouds, Translucency, Spectral resolution

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Proceedings Article | 26 September 2013 Paper

The opto-mechanical design of the sub-orbital local interstellar cloud experiment (SLICE)

Robert Kane, Nicholas Nell, Ted Schultz, Kevin France, Matthew Beasley, Eric Burgh, Rachel Bushinsky, Keri Hoadley

Proceedings Volume 8859, 885912 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023079

KEYWORDS: Sensors, Telescopes, Mirrors, Spectrographs, Microchannel plates, Cameras, Space telescopes, Electronics, Rockets, Resistors

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Proceedings Article | 26 September 2013 Paper

Flight performance and first results from the sub-orbital local interstellar cloud experiment (SLICE)

Kevin France, Nicholas Nell, Keri Hoadley, Robert Kane, Eric Burgh, Matthew Beasley, Rachel Bushinksy, Ted Schultz, Michael Kaiser, Christopher Moore, Jennifer Kulow, James Green

Proceedings Volume 8859, 885910 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2023400

KEYWORDS: Clouds, Telescopes, Stars, Absorption, Sensors, Spectrographs, Calibration, Microchannel plates, Spectral resolution, Reflectivity

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