RESUMEN
The neutral hydrogen (H I) and ionized helium (He II) absorption in the spectra of quasars are unique probes of structure in the early universe. We present Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer observations of the line of sight to the quasar HE2347-4342 in the 1000 to 1187 angstrom band at a resolving power of 15,000. We resolve the He II Lyman alpha (Lyalpha) absorption as a discrete forest of absorption lines in the redshift range 2.3 to 2.7. About 50 percent of these features have H I counterparts with column densities N(H I) > 10(12.3) per square centimeter that account for most of the observed opacity in He II Lyalpha. The He II to H I column density ratio ranges from 1 to >1000, with an average of approximately 80. Ratios of <100 are consistent with photoionization of the absorbing gas by a hard ionizing spectrum resulting from the integrated light of quasars, but ratios of >100 in many locations indicate additional contributions from starburst galaxies or heavily filtered quasar radiation. The presence of He II Lyalpha absorbers with no H I counterparts indicates that structure is present even in low-density regions, consistent with theoretical predictions of structure formation through gravitational instability.
RESUMEN
The Lyman Far Ultraviolet Spectrographic Explorer telescope is a glancing-incidence type with a highly curved focal surface. Because the instrument is required to guide on stars in the visible range fainter than m(v) = 16 over at least a 10-arcmin field, it is necessary to reimage the field to one, which is sufficiently flat and of appropriate scale for registration by a CCD. We present two camera designs that satisfy this requirement and discuss their overall performance.
RESUMEN
The Lyman Far Ultraviolet Spectrographic Explorer telescope is a Wolter type II glancing incidence design with an aperture of 64 cm. Because the spacecraft is required to guide on stars fainter than m(v) = 16, a visible light baffle is necessary to protect the field of view from the stray light that results from out-of-field bright sources. Such a baffle system is described here. Total point-source transmittances are computed for incident beams in the range 0-70°. Estimates for background brightness on the detector are made for the contribution from direct sunlight and earthshine. Scattering from the black surfaces of the baffle, the vanes, and diffraction at the structure's edges are taken into consideration.