The Instrument of the Astrometric Mission Diva

Extract

As a follow-up to the most successful Hipparcos mission we have suggested a mini-satellite. The instrument DIVA is a pair of two small Fizeau interferometers with a fixed angular separation scanning the entire sky in a Hipparcos-type fashion. Despite its small apertures the very efficient opticaldesign and the use of CCD detectors will allow a significant increase in performance compared to the Hipparcos mission. Introducing objective prisms in front of the beam combiners will generate dispersed fringes which will allow a more accurate astrometry and much more detailed spectro-photometric information than filtered, undispered fringes. A complete optical system wasdesigned which is suitable to achieve the desired goal and may be expanded to the size of GAIA. Likewise, several options exists to improve the capabilities and the depth of the DIVA mission.