Status of the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) optics production program

Thomas E. Gordon; Benjamin F. Catching

doi:10.1117/12.188005

30 September 1994 Status of the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) optics production program

Thomas E. Gordon, Benjamin F. Catching

Proceedings Volume 2263, Current Developments in Optical Design and Optical Engineering IV; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.188005
Event: SPIE's 1994 International Symposium on Optics, Imaging, and Instrumentation, 1994, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The AXAF observatory is the third of NASA's `Great Observatories' designed to image cosmic x-rays in the energy regime of 0.1 to 10 keV (124 - 1.24 angstroms). The mirror assembly consists of four concentric, confocal, Wolter type I telescopes. Each telescope includes two conical grazing incidence mirrors, a paraboloid followed by a hyperboloid, for a total of eight cylindrical elements. The largest element pair was successfully fabricated and tested in x-rays in 1991, at which point the production program to fabricate the remaining six mirrors was initiated. This process is well underway, with mirrors in various stages of production. This paper describes the fabrication requirements, discusses the status of each mirror, and presents summary information on the convergence of the computer controlled fabrication process and examples of the fabrication results.

Citation Download Citation

Thomas E. Gordon and Benjamin F. Catching "Status of the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) optics production program", Proc. SPIE 2263, Current Developments in Optical Design and Optical Engineering IV, (30 September 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.188005

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