The x-ray polarimeter instrument on board the Polarimeter for Relativistic Astrophysical X-ray Sources (PRAXyS) mission

J. E. Hill; J. K. Black; K. Jahoda; T. Tamagawa; W. Iwakiri; T. Kitaguchi; M. Kubota; P. Kaaret; R. McCurdy; D. M. Miles; T. Okajima; Y. Soong; L. Olsen; L. Sparr; S. J. Mosely; D. Nolan

doi:10.1117/12.2233322

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17 August 2016 The x-ray polarimeter instrument on board the Polarimeter for Relativistic Astrophysical X-ray Sources (PRAXyS) mission

J. E. Hill, J. K. Black, K. Jahoda, T. Tamagawa, W. Iwakiri, T. Kitaguchi, M. Kubota, P. Kaaret, R. McCurdy, D. M. Miles, T. Okajima, Y. Soong, L. Olsen, L. Sparr, S. J. Mosely, D. Nolan

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Proceedings Volume 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 99051B (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233322
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

The Polarimeter for Relativistic Astrophysical X-ray Sources (PRAXyS) is one of three Small Explorer (SMEX) missions selected by NASA for Phase A study. The PRAXyS observatory carries an X-ray Polarimeter Instrument (XPI) capable of measuring the linear polarization from a variety of high energy sources, including black holes, neutron stars, and supernova remnants. The XPI is comprised of two identical mirror-Time Projection Chamber (TPC) polarimeter telescopes with a system effective area of 124 cm² at 3 keV, capable of photon limited observations for sources as faint as 1 mCrab. The XPI is built with well-established technologies. This paper will describe the performance of the XPI flight mirror with the engineering test unit polarimeter.

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J. E. Hill, J. K. Black, K. Jahoda, T. Tamagawa, W. Iwakiri, T. Kitaguchi, M. Kubota, P. Kaaret, R. McCurdy, D. M. Miles, T. Okajima, Y. Soong, L. Olsen, L. Sparr, S. J. Mosely, and D. Nolan "The x-ray polarimeter instrument on board the Polarimeter for Relativistic Astrophysical X-ray Sources (PRAXyS) mission", Proc. SPIE 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 99051B (17 August 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2233322

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