Abstract

Mauve is a small satellite equipped with a 13-cm telescope and a UV-Visible spectrometer (with an operative wavelength range of 200-700 nm) conceived to measure the stellar magnetic activity and variability. The satellite and science program will be delivered by Blue Skies Space via a multi-year collaborative survey program, with thousands of hours each year available for long baseline observations of hundreds of stars, unlocking a significant time domain astronomy opportunity. Mauve’s mission lifetime is 3 years with the ambition of 5 years, and will cover a broad field of regard (–46.4 to 31.8 degrees in ICRS ) during this period.

This facility was conceived to support pilot studies and new ideas in science and is fully dedicated to time-domain astronomy. The main surveys to be executed by Mauve are long baseline observations of flare stars, Herbig Ae/Be stars, exoplanet hosts, as well as contact binary variables (RS CVn variables, symbiotic stars, Algol-type stars, etc.). Besides these major science themes, the spectrometer’s data can be utilized to support and complement existing and upcoming facilities as a pathfinder, or conduct simultaneous/follow-up observations. bssl.space/mauve