Push-broom mapping of galaxies and supernova remnants with the SPRITE CubeSat

Supernovae (SNe) enrich and energize the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM) and are a key mechanism in the galaxy feedback cycle. The heating of the ISM by supernova shocks and its subsequent cooling is of critical importance to future star formation. The cooling of the diffuse shock-heated ISM is dominated by ultraviolet (UV) emission lines. These cooling regions and interfaces have complex spatial structure on sub-parsec scales. Mapping this cooling process is an essential part of understanding the feedback cycle of galaxies, a major goal of the 2020 Astrophysics Decadal Survey. The Supernova remnants and Proxies for ReIonization Testbed Experiment (SPRITE) 12U CubeSat Mission will house the first long-slit orbital spectrograph with sub-arcminute angular resolution covering far ultraviolet wavelengths (FUV; 1000 to 1750 Å) and access to the Lyman UV (λ<1216 Å). SPRITE is designed to provide new insights into the stellar feedback that drives galaxy evolution by mapping key FUV emission lines at the interaction lines between supernova remnants (SNRs) and the ambient ISM. SPRITE will also measure the ionizing escape from ∼50 low-redshift (0.16<z<0.4) star-forming galaxies. Current models predict SPRITE capable of detecting strong O VI, O IV], and C IV emission lines with angular resolution from 10 to 20 arcseconds. The SPRITE SNR survey will use push-broom mapping of its long-slit on extended sources to produce the first large sample of sub-arcminute 3D data cubes of extended sources in the FUV. We present simulated SPRITE observations of Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) SNRs to demonstrate the efficacy of the SPRITE instrument ahead of launch and instrument commissioning. These models serve as critical planning tools and incorporate the final pre-flight predicted performance of the instrument and the early extended source data reduction pipeline.