L'Ralph – camera and spectrometer in one
L'Ralph – camera and spectrometer in one
One of Lucy's two scientific camera systems is L'Ralph. It consists of the Multispectral Visible Imaging Camera (MVIC), with colour channels for visible light wavelengths up to near infrared (0.38-0.92 microns), and the Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA), an infrared spectrometer for near to mid-infrared (1.0-3.6 microns). LEISA can identify absorption lines that reveal silicate minerals, ice and organic carbon and hydrocarbon compounds suspected to be present on the surfaces of the Trojan asteroids. L'Ralph, named after Ralph Kramden of the 'Honeymooners', is a further development of the Ralph camera system on the New Horizons mission, which transmitted razor-sharp images of Pluto and its companion Charon to Earth in 2015.
