Optical design of the STAR-X telescope

Timo T. Saha; William W. Zhang; Ryan S. McClelland

doi:10.1117/12.2273803

29 August 2017 Optical design of the STAR-X telescope

Timo T. Saha, William W. Zhang, Ryan S. McClelland

Proceedings Volume 10399, Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy VIII; 103990I (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2273803
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2017, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Top-level science objectives of the Survey and Time-domain Astrophysical Research eXplorer (STAR-X) include: investigations of most violent explosions in the universe, study of growth of black holes across cosmic time and mass scale, and measure how structure formation heats majority of baryons in the universe. To meet these objectives, the STAR-X telescope requires a field of view of about 1 square-degree, an angular resolution of 5 arc-seconds or better across large part of the field of view. The on-axis effective area at 1 keV should be about 2,000 cm² . Payload cost and launch considerations limit the outer diameter, focal length, and mass to 1.3 meters, 5 meters, and 250 kilograms, respectively. Telescope design is based on a segmented meta-shell approach we have developed at Goddard Space Flight Center. The telescope mirror shells are divided into segments. Individual shells are nested inside each other to meet the effective area requirements in 0.5 – 6.0 keV range. We consider Wolter-Schwarzschild, and Modified-WolterSchwarzschild telescopes. These designs offer an excellent PSF over a large field of view. Nested shells are vulnerable to stray light problems. We have designed a multi-component baffle system to eliminate direct and single-reflection light paths inside the mirror assembly. Large numbers of internal and external baffles are required to prevent stray rays from reaching the focal plane. We have developed a simple ray-trace tool to determine the dimensions and locations of the baffles. In this paper, we present the results of our trade studies, baffle design studies, and optical performance analyses of the STAR-X telescope.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Timo T. Saha, William W. Zhang, and Ryan S. McClelland "Optical design of the STAR-X telescope", Proc. SPIE 10399, Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy VIII, 103990I (29 August 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2273803

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available