STROBE-X: a probe-class mission for x-ray spectroscopy and timing on timescales from microseconds to years

Paul S. Ray; Zaven Arzoumanian; Søren Brandt; Eric Burns; Deepto Chakrabarty; Marco Feroci; Keith C. Gendreau; Olivier Gevin; Margarita Hernanz; Peter Jenke; Steven Kenyon; José Luis Gálvez; Thomas J. Maccarone; Takashi Okajima; Ronald A. Remillard; Stéphane Schanne; Chris Tenzer; Andrea Vacchi; Colleen A. Wilson-Hodge; Berend Winter; Silvia Zane; David R. Ballantyne; Enrico Bozzo; Laura W. Brenneman; Edward Cackett; Alessandra De Rosa; Adam Goldstein; Dieter H. Hartmann; Michael McDonald; Abigail L. Stevens; John A. Tomsick; Anna L. Watts; Kent S. Wood; Abderahmen Zoghbi

doi:10.1117/12.2312257

6 July 2018 STROBE-X: a probe-class mission for x-ray spectroscopy and timing on timescales from microseconds to years

Paul S. Ray, Zaven Arzoumanian, Søren Brandt, Eric Burns, Deepto Chakrabarty, Marco Feroci, Keith C. Gendreau, Olivier Gevin, Margarita Hernanz, Peter Jenke, Steven Kenyon, José Luis Gálvez, Thomas J. Maccarone, Takashi Okajima, Ronald A. Remillard, Stéphane Schanne, Chris Tenzer, Andrea Vacchi, Colleen A. Wilson-Hodge, Berend Winter, Silvia Zane, David R. Ballantyne, Enrico Bozzo, Laura W. Brenneman, Edward Cackett, Alessandra De Rosa, Adam Goldstein, Dieter H. Hartmann, Michael McDonald, Abigail L. Stevens, John A. Tomsick, Anna L. Watts, Kent S. Wood, Abderahmen Zoghbi

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10699, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 1069919 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312257
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States

Abstract

We describe the Spectroscopic Time-Resolving Observatory for Broadband Energy X-rays (STROBE-X), a probeclass mission concept that will provide an unprecedented view of the X-ray sky, performing timing and spectroscopy over both a broad energy band (0.2–30 keV) and a wide range of timescales from microseconds to years. STROBE-X comprises two narrow-field instruments and a wide field monitor. The soft or low-energy band (0.2–12 keV) is covered by an array of lightweight optics (3-m focal length) that concentrate incident photons onto small solid-state detectors with CCD-level (85–175 eV) energy resolution, 100 ns time resolution, and low background rates. This technology has been fully developed for NICER and will be scaled up to take advantage of the longer focal length of STROBE-X. The higher-energy band (2–30 keV) is covered by large-area, collimated silicon drift detectors that were developed for the European LOFT mission concept. Each instrument will provide an order of magnitude improvement in effective area over its predecessor (NICER in the soft band and RXTE in the hard band). Finally, STROBE-X offers a sensitive wide-field monitor (WFM), both to act as a trigger for pointed observations of X-ray transients and also to provide high duty-cycle, high time-resolution, and high spectral-resolution monitoring of the variable X-ray sky. The WFM will boast approximately 20 times the sensitivity of the RXTE All-Sky Monitor, enabling multi-wavelength and multi-messenger investigations with a large instantaneous field of view. This mission concept will be presented to the 2020 Decadal Survey for consideration.

Conference Presentation

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Paul S. Ray, Zaven Arzoumanian, Søren Brandt, Eric Burns, Deepto Chakrabarty, Marco Feroci, Keith C. Gendreau, Olivier Gevin, Margarita Hernanz, Peter Jenke, Steven Kenyon, José Luis Gálvez, Thomas J. Maccarone, Takashi Okajima, Ronald A. Remillard, Stéphane Schanne, Chris Tenzer, Andrea Vacchi, Colleen A. Wilson-Hodge, Berend Winter, Silvia Zane, David R. Ballantyne, Enrico Bozzo, Laura W. Brenneman, Edward Cackett, Alessandra De Rosa, Adam Goldstein, Dieter H. Hartmann, Michael McDonald, Abigail L. Stevens, John A. Tomsick, Anna L. Watts, Kent S. Wood, and Abderahmen Zoghbi "STROBE-X: a probe-class mission for x-ray spectroscopy and timing on timescales from microseconds to years", Proc. SPIE 10699, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 1069919 (6 July 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2312257

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