The square meter arcsecond resolution x-ray telescope: SMART-X

Daniel A. Schwartz; Thomas L. Aldcroft; Jay A. Bookbinder; Vincenzo Cotroneo; William N. Davis; William R. Forman; Mark D. Freeman; Stuart McMuldroch; Paul Reid; Harvey Tananbaum; Alexey Vikhlinin; Susan Trolier-McKinstry; Derek Wilke; Raegan Johnson-Wilke

doi:10.1117/12.930868

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15 October 2012 The square meter arcsecond resolution x-ray telescope: SMART-X

Daniel A. Schwartz, Thomas L. Aldcroft, Jay A. Bookbinder, Vincenzo Cotroneo, William N. Davis, William R. Forman, Mark D. Freeman, Stuart McMuldroch, Paul Reid, Harvey Tananbaum, Alexey Vikhlinin, Susan Trolier-McKinstry, Derek Wilke, Raegan Johnson-Wilke

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Proceedings Volume 8503, Adaptive X-Ray Optics II; 850308 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.930868
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

We describe an X-ray Observatory mission with 0.5” angular resolution, comparable to the Chandra X-ray Observatory, but with 30 times more effective collecting area. The concept is based on developing the new technology of adjustable X-ray optics for ultra thin (0.4 mm), highly nested grazing incidence X-ray mirrors. Simulations to date indicate that the corrections for manufacturing and mounting can be determined on the ground and the effects of gravity release can be calculated to sufficient accuracy, so that all adjustments are applied only once on-orbit, without the need of any on-orbit determination of the required corrections. The mission concept is based on the Chandra Observatory, and takes advantage of the technology studies which have taken place over the past fifteen years developing large area, light weight mirrors.

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Daniel A. Schwartz, Thomas L. Aldcroft, Jay A. Bookbinder, Vincenzo Cotroneo, William N. Davis, William R. Forman, Mark D. Freeman, Stuart McMuldroch, Paul Reid, Harvey Tananbaum, Alexey Vikhlinin, Susan Trolier-McKinstry, Derek Wilke, and Raegan Johnson-Wilke "The square meter arcsecond resolution x-ray telescope: SMART-X", Proc. SPIE 8503, Adaptive X-Ray Optics II, 850308 (15 October 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.930868

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