Adaptive multi-wavelength LED star simulator for space life studies

With this work we report on the design of an LED based star simulator. The simulator is the result of a cooperation between the Italian National Astrophysics Institute and LightCube SRL, a University of Padova (Italy) R&D spin-off. The simulator is designed to achieve a luminous output customizable both in spectrum and in intensity. The core of the system is a 25 channels independent LED illuminator specifically designed to replicate the spectral emission of the desired star. The simulated star light intensity can also be carefully tuned to achieve the correct illuminance at a specific distance from the star.