The Large Area Detector (LAD) is the high-throughput, spectral-timing instrument designed for the eXTP (enhanced Xray Timing and Polarimetry) mission, a major project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Space Administration. The eXTP science case involves the study of matter under extreme conditions of gravity, density and magnetism. The eXTP mission is currently performing a phase B study, expected to be completed by the end of 2024. The target launch date is end-2029. Until recently, the eXTP scientific payload included four instruments (Spectroscopy Focusing Array, Polarimetry Focusing Array, Large Area Detector and Wide Field Monitor) offering unprecedented simultaneous wide-band X-ray timing and polarimetry sensitivity. The mission designed was however rescoped in early 2024 to meet the programmatic requirements of a final mission adoption in the context of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Negotiations are still ongoing at agency level to assess the feasibility of a European participation to the payload implementation, by providing the LAD and WFM instruments, through a European Consortium composed of institutes from Italy, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland and Turkey. At the time of writing, the LAD instrument is thus a scientific payload proposed for inclusion on eXTP. The LAD instrument for eXTP is based on the design originally proposed for the LOFT mission within the ESA-M3 context. The eXTP/LAD envisages a deployed >3 m2 effective area in the 2-30 keV energy range, achieved through the technology of the large-area Silicon Drift Detectors - offering a spectral resolution of up to 200 eV FWHM at 6 keV - and of capillary plate collimators - limiting the field of view to about 1 degree. In this paper we provide an overview of the LAD instrument design and the status of its maturity when approaching nearly the end of its phase B study.
The enhanced x-ray timing and polarimetry mission (eXTP) is a flagship observatory for x-ray timing, spectroscopy and polarimetry developed by an international consortium. Thanks to its very large collecting area, good spectral resolution and unprecedented polarimetry capabilities, eXTP will explore the properties of matter and the propagation of light in the most extreme conditions found in the universe. eXTP will, in addition, be a powerful x-ray observatory. The mission will continuously monitor the x-ray sky, and will enable multi-wavelength and multi-messenger studies. The mission is currently in phase B, which will be completed in the middle of 2022.
The Large Area Detector (LAD) is the high-throughput, spectral-timing instrument onboard the eXTP mission, a flagship mission of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the China National Space Administration, with a large European participation coordinated by Italy and Spain. The eXTP mission is currently performing its phase B study, with a target launch at the end-2027. The eXTP scientific payload includes four instruments (SFA, PFA, LAD and WFM) offering unprecedented simultaneous wide-band X-ray timing and polarimetry sensitivity. The LAD instrument is based on the design originally proposed for the LOFT mission. It envisages a deployed 3.2 m2 effective area in the 2-30 keV energy range, achieved through the technology of the large-area Silicon Drift Detectors - offering a spectral resolution of up to 200 eV FWHM at 6 keV - and of capillary plate collimators - limiting the field of view to about 1 degree. In this paper we will provide an overview of the LAD instrument design, its current status of development and anticipated performance.
The eXTP (enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry) mission is a major project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and China National Space Administration (CNSA) currently performing an extended phase A study and proposed for a launch by 2025 in a low-earth orbit. The eXTP scientific payload envisages a suite of instruments (Spectroscopy Focusing Array, Polarimetry Focusing Array, Large Area Detector and Wide Field Monitor) offering unprecedented simultaneous wide-band X-ray spectral, timing and polarimetry sensitivity. A large European consortium is contributing to the eXTP study and it is expected to provide key hardware elements, including a Large Area Detector (LAD). The LAD instrument for eXTP is based on the design originally proposed for the LOFT mission within the ESA context. The eXTP/LAD envisages a deployed 3.4 m2 effective area in the 2-30 keV energy range, achieved through the technology of the large-area Silicon Drift Detectors - offering a spectral resolution of up to 200 eV FWHM at 6 keV - and of capillary plate collimators - limiting the field of view to about 1 degree. In this paper we provide an overview of the LAD instrument design, including new elements with respect to the earlier LOFT configuration.
The eXTP (enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry) mission is a major project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and China National Space Administration (CNSA) currently performing an extended phase A study and proposed for a launch by 2025 in a low-earth orbit. The eXTP scientific payload envisages a suite of instruments (Spectroscopy Focusing Array, Polarimetry Focusing Array, Large Area Detector and Wide Field Monitor) offering unprecedented simultaneous wide-band X-ray timing and polarimetry sensitivity. A large European consortium is contributing to the eXTP study and it is expected to provide key hardware elements, including a Wide Field Monitor (WFM). The WFM instrument for eXTP is based on the design originally proposed for the LOFT mission within the ESA context. The eXTP/WFM envisages a wide field X-ray monitor system in the 2-50 keV energy range, achieved through the technology of the large-area Silicon Drift Detectors. The WFM will consist of 3 pairs of coded mask cameras with a total combined Field of View (FoV) of 90×180 degrees at zero response and a source localization accuracy of ~1 arcmin. In this paper we provide an overview of the WFM instrument design, including new elements with respect to the earlier LOFT configuration, and anticipated performance.
The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) was successfully launched on June 15th, 2017. It performs broad band X-ray scan survey of the Galactic Plane to detect new black holes and other objects in active states. It also observes X-ray binaries to study their X-ray variabilities. Here we will introduce the Science Operations of Insight-HXMT, which is responsible for collecting and evaluating observation proposals, scheduling observations, and monitoring the working status of the payloads
eXTP is a science mission designed to study the state of matter under
extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. Primary goals
are the determination of the equation of state of matter at supra-nuclear
density, the measurement of QED effects in highly magnetized star, and
the study of accretion in the strong-field regime of gravity.
Primary targets include isolated and binary neutron stars,
strong magnetic field systems like magnetars, and stellar-mass
and supermassive black holes. The mission carries a unique and
unprecedented suite of state-of-the-art scientific
instruments enabling for the first time ever the simultaneous
spectral-timing-polarimetry studies of cosmic sources in the
energy range from 0.5-30 keV (and beyond). Key elements of the
payload are: the Spectroscopic Focusing Array (SFA)
- a set of 9 X-ray optics for a total effective area of ~0.7 m2 and
0.5 m2 at 2 keV and 6 keV respectively, equipped with
Silicon Drift Detectors offering 150 eV spectral resolution;
the Large Area Detector (LAD) - a deployable set of 640
Silicon Drift Detectors, for a total effective area of
~3.4 m2, and spectral resolution better than 250 eV;
the Polarimetry Focusing Array (PFA) – a set of 4 X-ray telescope,
for a total effective area of >500 cm2 at 2 keV, equipped with
imaging gas pixel photoelectric polarimeters; the Wide Field
Monitor (WFM) - a set of 3 coded mask wide field units, equipped
with position-sensitive Silicon Drift Detectors, each covering
a 90 degrees x 90 degrees field of view. The eXTP
international consortium includes major institutions
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Universities in
China, as well as major institutions in several European
countries.
The predecessor of eXTP, the XTP mission concept, has been
selected and funded as one of the missions in the Strategic
Pioneering Space Science Program of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences since 2011. The strong European participation has
ignificantly enhanced the scientific capabilities of eXTP.
The planned launch date of the mission is 2025.
The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT or also dubbed as Insight-HXMT) is China’s first astronomical satellite. It was launched on 15th June 2017 in JiuQuan, China and is currently in service smoothly. It was designed to perform pointing, scanning and gamma-ray burst (GRB) observations and, based on the Direct Demodulation Method (DDM), the image of the scanned sky region can be reconstructed. Here we introduce the mission and its progresses in aspects of payload, core sciences, ground calibration/facility, ground segment, data archive, software, in-orbit performance, calibration, background model, observations and preliminary results.
S. N. Zhang, M. Feroci, A. Santangelo, Y. W. Dong, H. Feng, F. J. Lu, K. Nandra, Z. S. Wang, S. Zhang, E. Bozzo, S. Brandt, A. De Rosa, L. J. Gou, M. Hernanz, M. van der Klis, X. D. Li, Y. Liu, P. Orleanski, G. Pareschi, M. Pohl, J. Poutanen, J. L. Qu, S. Schanne, L. Stella, P. Uttley, A. Watts, R. Xu, W. F. Yu, J. J. M. in ’t Zand, S. Zane, L. Alvarez, L. Amati, L. Baldini, C. Bambi, S. Basso, S. Bhattacharyya, R. Bellazzini, T. Belloni, P. Bellutti, S. Bianchi, A. Brez, M. Bursa, V. Burwitz, C. Budtz-Jørgensen, I. Caiazzo, R. Campana, X. L. Cao, P. Casella, C. Y. Chen, L. Chen, T. Chen, Y. Chen, M. Civitani, F. Coti Zelati, W. Cui, Z. G. Dai, E. Del Monte, D. de Martino, S. Di Cosimo, S. Diebold, M. Dovciak, I. Donnarumma, V. Doroshenko, P. Esposito, Y. Evangelista, Y. Favre, P. Friedrich, F. Fuschino, J. Galvez, Z. Gao, M. Ge, O. Gevin, D. Goetz, D. Han, J. Heyl, J. Horak, W. Hu, F. Huang, Q. S. Huang, R. Hudec, D. Huppenkothen, G. L. Israel, A. Ingram, V. Karas, D. Karelin, P. Jenke, L. Ji, S. Korpela, D. Kunneriath, C. Labanti, G. Li, X. Li, Z. S. Li, E. W. Liang, O. Limousin, L. Lin, Z. X. Ling, H. B. Liu, H. Liu, Z. Liu, B. Lu, N. Lund, D. Lai, B. Luo, T. Luo, B. Ma, S. Mahmoodifar, M. Marisaldi, A. Martindale, N. Meidinger, Y. P. Men, M. Michalska, R. Mignani, M. Minuti, S. Motta, F. Muleri, J. Neilsen, M. Orlandini, A. T. Pan, A. Patruno, E. Perinati, A. Picciotto, C. Piemonte, M. Pinchera, A. Rachevski, M. Rapisarda, N. Rea, E. M. Rossi, A. Rubini, G. Sala, X. W. Shu, C. Sgro, Z. X. Shen, P. Soffitta, L. Song, G. Spandre, G. Stratta, T. Strohmayer, L. Sun, J. Svoboda, G. Tagliaferri, C. Tenzer, T. Hong, R. Taverna, G. Torok, R. Turolla, S. Vacchi, J. Wang, D. Walton, K. Wang, J. F. Wang, R. J. Wang, Y. Wang, S. Weng, J. Wilms, B. Winter, X. Wu, S. L. Xiong, Y. Xu, Y. Xue, Z. Yan, S. Yang, X. Yang, Y. J. Yang, F. Yuan, W. Yuan, Y. F. Yuan, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, A. Zdziarski, C. Zhang, C. L. Zhang, L. Zhang, X. Zhang, Z. Zhang, W. Zhang, S. Zheng, P. Zhou, X. Zhou
eXTP is a science mission designed to study the state of matter under extreme conditions of density, gravity and magnetism. Primary goals are the determination of the equation of state of matter at supra-nuclear density, the measurement of QED effects in highly magnetized star, and the study of accretion in the strong-field regime of gravity. Primary targets include isolated and binary neutron stars, strong magnetic field systems like magnetars, and stellar-mass and supermassive black holes. The mission carries a unique and unprecedented suite of state-of-the-art scientific instruments enabling for the first time ever the simultaneous spectral-timing-polarimetry studies of cosmic sources in the energy range from 0.5-30 keV (and beyond). Key elements of the payload are: the Spectroscopic Focusing Array (SFA) - a set of 11 X-ray optics for a total effective area of ∼0.9 m2 and 0.6 m2 at 2 keV and 6 keV respectively, equipped with Silicon Drift Detectors offering <180 eV spectral resolution; the Large Area Detector (LAD) - a deployable set of 640 Silicon Drift Detectors, for a total effective area of ∼3.4 m2, between 6 and 10 keV, and spectral resolution better than 250 eV; the Polarimetry Focusing Array (PFA) – a set of 2 X-ray telescope, for a total effective area of 250 cm2 at 2 keV, equipped with imaging gas pixel photoelectric polarimeters; the Wide Field Monitor (WFM) - a set of 3 coded mask wide field units, equipped with position-sensitive Silicon Drift Detectors, each covering a 90 degrees x 90 degrees field of view. The eXTP international consortium includes major institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Universities in China, as well as major institutions in several European countries and the United States. The predecessor of eXTP, the XTP mission concept, has been selected and funded as one of the so-called background missions in the Strategic Priority Space Science Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2011. The strong European participation has significantly enhanced the scientific capabilities of eXTP. The planned launch date of the mission is earlier than 2025.
P. Soffitta, R. Bellazzini, E. Bozzo, V. Burwitz, A. Castro-Tirado, E. Costa, T. Courvoisier, H. Feng, S. Gburek, R. Goosmann, V. Karas, G. Matt, F. Muleri, K. Nandra, M. Pearce, J. Poutanen, V. Reglero, D. Sabau Maria, A. Santangelo, G. Tagliaferri, C. Tenzer, J. Vink, M. Weisskopf, S. Zane, I. Agudo, A. Antonelli, P. Attina, L. Baldini, A. Bykov, R. Carpentiero, E. Cavazzuti, E. Churazov, E. Del Monte, D. De Martino, I. Donnarumma, V. Doroshenko, Y. Evangelista, I. Ferreira, E. Gallo, N. Grosso, P. Kaaret, E. Kuulkers, J. Laranaga, L. Latronico, D. Lumb, J. Macian, J. Malzac, F. Marin, E. Massaro, M. Minuti, C. Mundell, J. U. Ness, T. Oosterbroek, S. Paltani, G. Pareschi, R. Perna, P.-O. Petrucci, H. B. Pinazo, M. Pinchera, J. P. Rodriguez, M. Roncadelli, A. Santovincenzo, S. Sazonov, C. Sgro, D. Spiga, J. Svoboda, C. Theobald, T. Theodorou, R. Turolla, E. Wilhelmi de Ona, B. Winter, A. M. Akbar, H. Allan, R. Aloisio, D. Altamirano, L. Amati, E. Amato, E. Angelakis, J. Arezu, J.-L. Atteia, M. Axelsson, M. Bachetti, L. Ballo, S. Balman, R. Bandiera, X. Barcons, S. Basso, A. Baykal, W. Becker, E. Behar, B. Beheshtipour, R. Belmont, E. Berger, F. Bernardini, S. Bianchi, G. Bisnovatyi-Kogan, P. Blasi, P. Blay, A. Bodaghee, M. Boer, M. Boettcher, S. Bogdanov, I. Bombaci, R. Bonino, J. Braga, W. Brandt, A. Brez, N. Bucciantini, L. Burderi, I. Caiazzo, R. Campana, S. Campana, F. Capitanio, M. Cappi, M. Cardillo, P. Casella, O. Catmabacak, B. Cenko, P. Cerda-Duran, C. Cerruti, S. Chaty, M. Chauvin, Y. Chen, J. Chenevez, M. Chernyakova, C. C. Cheung, D. Christodoulou, P. Connell, R. Corbet, F. Coti Zelati, S. Covino, W. Cui, G. Cusumano, A. D’Ai, F. D’Ammando, M. Dadina, Z. Dai, A. De Rosa, L. de Ruvo, N. Degenaar, M. Del Santo, L. Del Zanna, G. Dewangan, S. Di Cosimo, N. Di Lalla, G. Di Persio, T. Di Salvo, T. Dias, C. Done, M. Dovciak, G. Doyle, L. Ducci, R. Elsner, T. Enoto, J. Escada, P. Esposito, C. Eyles, S. Fabiani, M. Falanga, S. Falocco, Y. Fan, R. Fender, M. Feroci, C. Ferrigno, W. Forman, L. Foschini, C. Fragile, F. Fuerst, Y. Fujita, J. L. Gasent-Blesa, J. Gelfand, B. Gendre, G. Ghirlanda, G. Ghisellini, M. Giroletti, D. Goetz, E. Gogus, J.-L. Gomez, D. Gonzalez, R. Gonzalez-Riestra, E. Gotthelf, L. Gou, P. Grandi, V. Grinberg, F. Grise, C. Guidorzi, N. Gurlebeck, T. Guver, D. Haggard, M. Hardcastle, D. Hartmann, C. Haswell, A. Heger, M. Hernanz, J. Heyl, L. Ho, J. Hoormann, J. Horak, J. Huovelin, D. Huppenkothen, R. Iaria, C. Inam Sitki, A. Ingram, G. Israel, L. Izzo, M. Burgess, M. Jackson, L. Ji, J. Jiang, T. Johannsen, C. Jones, S. Jorstad, J. J. E. Kajava, M. Kalamkar, E. Kalemci, T. Kallman, A. Kamble, F. Kislat, M. Kiss, D. Klochkov, E. Koerding, M. Kolehmainen, K. Koljonen, S. Komossa, A. Kong, S. Korpela, M. Kowalinski, H. Krawczynski, I. Kreykenbohm, M. Kuss, D. Lai, M. Lan, J. Larsson, S. Laycock, D. Lazzati, D. Leahy, H. Li, J. Li, L.-X. Li, T. Li, Z. Li, M. Linares, M. Lister, H. Liu, G. Lodato, A. Lohfink, F. Longo, G. Luna, A. Lutovinov, S. Mahmoodifar, J. Maia, V. Mainieri, C. Maitra, D. Maitra, A. Majczyna, S. Maldera, D. Malyshev, A. Manfreda, A. Manousakis, R. Manuel, R. Margutti, A. Marinucci, S. Markoff, A. Marscher, H. Marshall, F. Massaro, M. McLaughlin, G. Medina-Tanco, M. Mehdipour, M. Middleton, R. Mignani, P. Mimica, T. Mineo, B. Mingo, G. Miniutti, S. M. Mirac, G. Morlino, A. Motlagh, S. Motta, A. Mushtukov, S. Nagataki, F. Nardini, J. Nattila, G. Navarro, B. Negri, Matteo Negro, S. Nenonen, V. Neustroev, F. Nicastro, A. Norton, A. Nucita, P. O’Brien, S. O’Dell, H. Odaka, B. Olmi, N. Omodei, M. Orienti, M. Orlandini, J. Osborne, L. Pacciani, V. Paliya, I. Papadakis, A. Papitto, Z. Paragi, P. Pascal, B. Paul, L. Pavan, A. Pellizzoni, E. Perinati, M. Pesce-Rollins, E. Piconcelli, A. Pili, M. Pilia, M. Pohl, G. Ponti, D. Porquet, A. Possenti, K. Postnov, I. Prandoni, N. Produit, G. Puehlhofer, B. Ramsey, M. Razzano, N. Rea, P. Reig, K. Reinsch, T. Reiprich, M. Reynolds, G. Risaliti, T. Roberts, J. Rodriguez, M. Rossi, S. Rosswog, A. Rozanska, A. Rubini, B. Rudak, D. Russell, F. Ryde, S. Sabatini, G. Sala, M. Salvati, M. Sasaki, T. Savolainen, R. Saxton, S. Scaringi, K. Schawinski, N. Schulz, A. Schwope, P. Severgnini, M. Sharon, A Shaw, A. Shearer, X. Shesheng, I. -C. Shih, K. Silva, R. Silva, E. Silver, A. Smale, F. Spada, G. Spandre, A. Stamerra, B. Stappers, S. Starrfield, L. Stawarz, N. Stergioulas, A. Stevens, H. Stiele, V. Suleimanov, R. Sunyaev, A. Slowikowska, F. Tamborra, F. Tavecchio, R. Taverna, A. Tiengo, L. Tolos, F. Tombesi, J. Tomsick, H. Tong, G. Torok, D. Torres, A. Tortosa, A. Tramacere, V. Trimble, G. Trinchieri, S. Tsygankov, M. Tuerler, S. Turriziani, F. Ursini, P. Uttley, P. Varniere, F. Vincent, E. Vurgun, C. Wang, Z. Wang, A. Watts, J. Wheeler, K. Wiersema, R. Wijnands, J. Wilms, A. Wolter, K. Wood, K. Wu, X. Wu, W. Xiangyu, F. Xie, R. Xu, S.-P. Yan, J. Yang, W. Yu, F. Yuan, A. Zajczyk, D. Zanetti, R. Zanin, C. Zanni, L. Zappacosta, A. Zdziarski, A. Zech, H. Zhang, S. Zhang, W. Zhang, A. Zoghbi
XIPE, the X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer, is a mission dedicated to X-ray Astronomy. At the time of
writing XIPE is in a competitive phase A as fourth medium size mission of ESA (M4). It promises to reopen the
polarimetry window in high energy Astrophysics after more than 4 decades thanks to a detector that efficiently
exploits the photoelectric effect and to X-ray optics with large effective area. XIPE uniqueness is time-spectrally-spatially-
resolved X-ray polarimetry as a breakthrough in high energy astrophysics and fundamental physics.
Indeed the payload consists of three Gas Pixel Detectors at the focus of three X-ray optics with a total effective
area larger than one XMM mirror but with a low weight. The payload is compatible with the fairing of the Vega
launcher. XIPE is designed as an observatory for X-ray astronomers with 75 % of the time dedicated to a Guest
Observer competitive program and it is organized as a consortium across Europe with main contributions from
Italy, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden.
M. Feroci, E. Bozzo, S. Brandt, M. Hernanz, M. van der Klis, L.-P. Liu, P. Orleanski, M. Pohl, A. Santangelo, S. Schanne, L. Stella, T. Takahashi, H. Tamura, A. Watts, J. Wilms, S. Zane, S.-N. Zhang, S. Bhattacharyya, I. Agudo, M. Ahangarianabhari, C. Albertus, M. Alford, A. Alpar, D. Altamirano, L. Alvarez, L. Amati, C. Amoros, N. Andersson, A. Antonelli, A. Argan, R. Artigue, B. Artigues, J.-L. Atteia, P. Azzarello, P. Bakala, D. Ballantyne, G. Baldazzi, M. Baldo, S. Balman, M. Barbera, C. van Baren, D. Barret, A. Baykal, M. Begelman, E. Behar, O. Behar, T. Belloni, F. Bernardini, G. Bertuccio, S. Bianchi, A. Bianchini, P. Binko, P. Blay, F. Bocchino, M. Bode, P. Bodin, I. Bombaci, J.-M. Bonnet Bidaud, S. Boutloukos, F. Bouyjou, L. Bradley, J. Braga, M. Briggs, E. Brown, M. Buballa, N. Bucciantini, L. Burderi, M. Burgay, M. Bursa, C. Budtz-Jørgensen, E. Cackett, F. Cadoux, P. Cais, G. Caliandro, R. Campana, S. Campana, X. Cao, F. Capitanio, J. Casares, P. Casella, A. Castro-Tirado, E. Cavazzuti, Y. Cavechi, S. Celestin, P. Cerda-Duran, D. Chakrabarty, N. Chamel, F. Château, C. Chen, Y. Chen, J. Chenevez, M. Chernyakova, J. Coker, R. Cole, A. Collura, M. Coriat, R. Cornelisse, L. Costamante, A. Cros, W. Cui, A. Cumming, G. Cusumano, B. Czerny, A. D'Aì, F. D'Ammando, V. D'Elia, Z. Dai, E. Del Monte, A. De Luca, D. De Martino, J. P. C. Dercksen, M. De Pasquale, A. De Rosa, M. Del Santo, S. Di Cosimo, N. Degenaar, J. W. den Herder, S. Diebold, T. Di Salvo, Y. Dong, I. Donnarumma, V. Doroshenko, G. Doyle, S. Drake, M. Durant, D. Emmanoulopoulos, T. Enoto, M. H. Erkut, P. Esposito, Y. Evangelista, A. Fabian, M. Falanga, Y. Favre, C. Feldman, R. Fender, H. Feng, V. Ferrari, C. Ferrigno, M. Finger, G. Fraser, M. Frericks, M. Fullekrug, F. Fuschino, M. Gabler, D. K. Galloway, J. L. Gálvez Sanchez, P. Gandhi, Z. Gao, E. Garcia-Berro, B. Gendre, O. Gevin, S. Gezari, A. B. Giles, M. Gilfanov, P. Giommi, G. Giovannini, M. Giroletti, E. Gogus, A. Goldwurm, K. Goluchová, D. Götz, L. Gou, C. Gouiffes, P. Grandi, M. Grassi, J. Greiner, V. Grinberg, P. Groot, M. Gschwender, L. Gualtieri, M. Guedel, C. Guidorzi, L. Guy, D. Haas, P. Haensel, M. Hailey, K. Hamuguchi, F. Hansen, D. Hartmann, C. A. Haswell, K. Hebeler, A. Heger, M. Hempel, W. Hermsen, J. Homan, A. Hornstrup, R. Hudec, J. Huovelin, D. Huppenkothen, S. Inam, A. Ingram, J. In't Zand, G. Israel, K. Iwasawa, L. Izzo, H. Jacobs, F. Jetter, T. Johannsen, P. Jenke, P. Jonker, J. Josè, P. Kaaret, K. Kalamkar, E. Kalemci, G. Kanbach, V. Karas, D. Karelin, D. Kataria, L. Keek, T. Kennedy, D. Klochkov, W. Kluzniak, E. Koerding, K. Kokkotas, S. Komossa, S. Korpela, C. Kouveliotou, A. Kowalski, I. Kreykenbohm, L. Kuiper, D. Kunneriath, A. Kurkela, I. Kuvvetli, F. La Franca, C. Labanti, D. Lai, F. Lamb, C. Lachaud, P. Laubert, F. Lebrun, X. Li, E. Liang, O. Limousin, D. Lin, M. Linares, D. Linder, G. Lodato, F. Longo, F. Lu, N. Lund, T. Maccarone, D. Macera, S. Maestre, S. Mahmoodifar, D. Maier, P. Malcovati, J. Malzac, C. Malone, I. Mandel, V. Mangano, A. Manousakis, M. Marelli, J. Margueron, M. Marisaldi, S. Markoff, A. Markowitz, A. Marinucci, A. Martindale, G. Martínez, I. McHardy, G. Medina-Tanco, M. Mehdipour, A. Melatos, M. Mendez, S. Mereghetti, S. Migliari, R. Mignani, M. Michalska, T. Mihara, M. C. Miller, J. M. Miller, T. Mineo, G. Miniutti, S. Morsink, C. Motch, S. Motta, M. Mouchet, G. Mouret, J. Mulačová, F. Muleri, T. Muñoz-Darias, I. Negueruela, J. Neilsen, T. Neubert, A. Norton, M. Nowak, A. Nucita, P. O'Brien, M. Oertel, P. E. H. Olsen, M. Orienti, M. Orio, M. Orlandini, J. Osborne, R. Osten, F. Ozel, L. Pacciani, F. Paerels, S. Paltani, M. Paolillo, I. Papadakis, A. Papitto, Z. Paragi, J. Paredes, A. Patruno, B. Paul, F. Pederiva, E. Perinati, A. Pellizzoni, A. V. Penacchioni, U. Peretz, M. Perez, M. Perez-Torres, B. Peterson, V. Petracek, C. Pittori, J. Pons, J. Portell, A. Possenti, K. Postnov, J. Poutanen, M. Prakash, I. Prandoni, H. 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The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 degree collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g., GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the current technical and programmatic status of the mission.
The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) is China’s first astronomical satellite. Based on the Direct Demodulation Method (DDM), it was designed to reconstructs images from data obtained in a scanning mode. Although this project was delayed by about 15 years, it will still bring us merits in some key sciences of observing the galactic transients and measuring the diffuse X-ray emission. This satellite is currently in the phase of flight model production with the expected launch in late 2015.
Calibration is one of the key issues for the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) on board the first Chinese astronomical satellite. As its core sciences are to observe the Galactic X-ray binaries, transients and the diffuse X-ray emission, the corresponding calibration tasks are mainly about the energy response and the effective area. To this end we are building two facilities specified to the calibration needs of the three scientific payloads of HXMT: the high energy telescope (HE), the medium energy telescope (ME) and the low energy telescope (LE). By adopting a double crystal monochromator, the X-ray beam can be extracted with an intrinsic energy dispersion of well below 1%. The light spot is limited to a size of a few mm under the constraints of the length of the facility which is about 6 m, and of the requirement on the intrinsic energy dispersion which is less than 1%. The HE facility was accomplished in 2013 and the LE/ME facility will be available in the middle of 2014.
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