The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission is the sixth Japanese x-ray astronomy satellite developed by a large international collaboration, including Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe. The mission aimed to provide the highest energy resolution ever achieved at E  >  2  keV, using a microcalorimeter instrument, and to cover a wide energy range spanning four decades in energy from soft x-rays to gamma rays. After a successful launch on February 17, 2016, the spacecraft lost its function on March 26, 2016, but the commissioning phase for about a month provided valuable information on the onboard instruments and the spacecraft system, including astrophysical results obtained from first light observations. The paper describes the Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission, its capabilities, the initial operation, and the instruments/spacecraft performances confirmed during the commissioning operations for about a month.

https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/Journal-of-Astronomical-Telescopes-Instruments-and-Systems/volume-4/issue-2/021402/Hitomi-ASTRO-H-X-ray-Astronomy-Satellite/10.1117/1.JATIS.4.2.021402.pdf

Hitomi (ASTRO-H) X-ray Astronomy Satellite

X-ray reflective coating for next generation's lightweight, high resolution, optics for astronomy requires thin-film deposition that is precisely fine-tuned so that it will not distort the thin sub-mm substrates. Film of very low stress is required. Alternatively, mirror distortion can be cancelled by precisely balancing the deformation from multiple films. We will present results on metallic film deposition for the lightweight optics under development. These efforts include: low-stress deposition by magnetron sputtering and atomic layer deposition of the metals, balancing of gross deformation with two-layer depositions of opposite stresses and with depositions on both sides of the thin mirrors.

/pdf/reflective-coating-for-lightweight-x-ray-optics-4gugrp9sxl.pdf

Reflective Coating for Lightweight X-Ray Optics

The immediate future for X-ray astronomy is the need for high sensitivity, requiring large apertures and collecting
areas, the newly combined NASA, ESA and JAXA mission IXO (International X-ray Observatory) is specifically
designed to meet this need. However, looking beyond the next decade, there have been calls for an X-ray
space telescope that can not only achieve this high sensitivity, but could also boast an angular resolution of 0.1
arc-seconds, a factor of five improvement on the Chandra X-ray Observatory. NASA's proposed Generation-X
mission is designed to meet this demand; it has been suggested that the X-ray optics must be active in nature in
order to achieve this desired resolution. The Smart X-ray Optics (SXO) project is a UK based consortium looking
at the application of active/adaptive optics to both large and small scale devices, intended for astronomical and
medical purposes respectively. With Generation-X in mind, an active elliptical prototype has been designed by
the SXO consortium to perform point-to-point X-ray focussing, while simultaneously manipulating its optical
surface to improve its initial resolution. Following the completion of the large scale SXO prototype, presented
is an overview of the production and operation of the prototype, with emphasis on the X-ray environment and
preliminary results.

Active x-ray optics for the next generation of x-ray telescopes

The Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT) modules are the fundamental focusing assemblies on NASA's next major X-ray telescope mission, the International X-Ray Observatory (IXO). The preliminary design and analysis of these assemblies has been completed, addressing the major engineering challenges and leading to an understanding of the factors effecting module performance. Each of the 60 modules in the Flight Mirror Assembly (FMA) supports 200-300 densely packed 0.4 mm thick glass mirror segments in order to meet the unprecedented effective area required to achieve the scientific objectives of the mission. Detailed Finite Element Analysis (FEA), materials testing, and environmental testing have been completed to ensure the modules can be successfully launched. Resulting stress margins are positive based on detailed FEA, a large factor of safety, and a design strength determined by robust characterization of the glass properties. FEA correlates well with the results of the successful modal, vibration, and acoustic environmental tests. Deformation of the module due to on-orbit thermal conditions is also a major design driver. A preliminary thermal control system has been designed and the sensitivity of module optical performance to various thermal loads has been determined using optomechanical analysis methods developed for this unique assembly. This design and analysis furthers the goal of building a module that demonstrates the ability to meet IXO requirements, which is the current focus of the IXO FMA technology development team.

/pdf/design-and-analysis-of-the-international-x-ray-observatory-5d2676knkd.pdf

Design and analysis of the International X-Ray Observatory mirror modules

The Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT) modules are the fundamental focusing assemblies on NASA's next major X-ray telescope mission, the International X-Ray Observatory (IXO). {su12]The preliminary design and analysis of these assemblies has been completed, addressing the major engineering challenges and leading to an understanding of the factors effecting module performance. Each of the 60 modules in the Flight Mirror Assembly (FMA) supports 200–300 densely packed 0.4 mm thick glass mirror segments in order to meet the unprecedented effective area required to achieve the scientific objectives of the mission. Detailed Finite Element Analysis (FEA), materials testing, and environmental testing have been completed to ensure the modules can be successfully launched. Resulting stress margins are positive based on detailed FEA, a large factor of safety, and a design strength determined by robust characterization of the glass properties. FEA correlates well with the results of the successful modal, vibration, and acoustic environmental tests. Deformation of the module due to on-orbit thermal conditions is also a major design driver. A preliminary thermal control system has been designed and the sensitivity of module optical performance to various thermal loads has been determined using optomechanical analysis methods developed for this unique assembly. This design and analysis furthers the goal of building a module that demonstrates the ability to meet IXO requirements, which is the current focus of IXO FMA technology development team.

/pdf/design-and-analysis-of-the-international-x-ray-observatory-44gnnp1rcm.pdf

The Constellation-X Observatory is currently planned as NASA's next major X-ray observatory to be launched towards the end of the next decade. The driving science goals for the mission are to: 1) Trace the evolution of Black Holes with cosmic time and determine their contribution to the energy output of the Universe; 2) Observe matter spiraling into Black Holes to test the predictions of General Relativity; 3) Use galaxy clusters to trace the locations of Dark Matter and follow the formation of structure as a function of distance; 4) Search for the missing baryonic matter; 5) Directly observe the dynamics of Cosmic Feedback to test models for galaxy formation; 6) Observe the creation and dispersion of the elements in supernovae; and 7) Precisely constrain the equation of state of neutron stars. To achieve these science goals requires high resolution (R > 1250) X-ray spectroscopy with 100 times the throughput of the Chandra and XMM- Newton. The Constellation-X Observatory will achieve this requirement with a combination of four large X-ray telescopes on a single satellite operating in the 0.25 to 10 keV range. These telescopes will feed X-ray micro-calorimeter arrays and grating spectrometers. A hard X-ray telescope system will provide coverage up to at least 40 keV. We describe the mission science drivers and the mission implementation approach.

The Constellation-X Observatory

Handle everyday research tasks with reliable, citation-backed results

Your personal Research Agent to handle research tasks with citation-backed results

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Meet SciSpace

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

Anne Hornschemeier

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

The Constellation-X Observatory