An Overview of the IXO Observatory

作者：Bookbinder Jay^*

来源：Conference on Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010 - Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 2010-06-28 To 2010-07-02.

DOI：10.1117/12.857363

• X-ray
• Observatory
• IXO
• Future Missions

The International X-ray Observatory (IXO) project is the result of a merger between the NASA Con-X and ESA/JAXA XEUS mission concepts. A facility-class mission, IXO will address the leading astrophysical questions in the "hot universe" through its breakthrough optics with 20 times more collecting area at 1 keV than any previous X-ray observatory, its 3 m(2) collecting area with 5 arcsec angular resolution will be achieved using a 20m focal length deployable optical bench. To reduce risk, two independent optics technologies are currently under development in the U. S. and in Europe. Focal plane instruments will deliver a 100-fold increase in effective area for high-resolution spectroscopy, deep spectral imaging over a wide field of view, unprecedented polarimetric sensitivity, microsecond spectroscopic timing, and high count rate capability. IXO covers the 0.1-40 keV energy range, complementing the capabilities of the next generation observatories, such as ALMA, LSST, JWST, and 30-m ground-based telescopes. These capabilities will enable studies of a broad range of scientific questions such as what happens close to a black hole, how supermassive black holes grow, how large scale structure forms, and what are the connections between these processes?

• 出版日期2010