Proceedings ArticleDOI
IXPE Mission System Concept and Development Status
William D. Deininger,William Kalinowski,James Masciarelli,Stu Gray,Colin Peterson,Grant Hibbard,Jeff Wedmore,Jeff Bladt,Martin C. Weisskopf,Brian D. Ramsey,Stephen L. O'Dell,Allyn F. Tennant,Rondal Mize,Michele Foster,Paolo Soffitta,Fabio Muleri,Francesco Santoli,Ettore Del Monte,Luca Baldini,Michele Pinchera,Luca Latronico,Alessio Trois,Darren Osborne +22 more
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TLDR
The IXPE mission science objectives are summarized, the Observatory implementation concept including the payload and spacecraft elements are updated, and the mission status since last year's conference is summarized.Abstract:
The goal of the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) Mission, a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX), is to expand understanding of high-energy astrophysical processes and sources, in support of NASA's first science objective in Astrophysics: “Discover how the universe works.” Polarization uniquely probes astrophysical anisotropies—ordered magnetic fields, aspheric matter distributions, or general relativistic coupling to black-hole spin—that are not otherwise measurable. Imaging enables the specific properties of extended X-ray sources to be differentiated. IXPE will conduct X-ray imaging polarimetry for multiple categories of cosmic X-ray sources such as neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, supernova remnants and active galactic nuclei. The Observatory uses a single science operational mode capturing the X-ray data from the targets. The IXPE Observatory consists of spacecraft and payload modules built up in parallel to form the Observatory during system integration and test. The payload includes three X-ray telescopes each consisting of a polarization-sensitive, gas pixel X-ray detector, paired with its corresponding grazing incidence mirror module assembly (MMA). A deployable boom provides the correct separation (focal length) between the detector units (DU) and MMAs. These payload elements are supported by the IXPE spacecraft which is derived from the BCP-small spacecraft architecture. This paper summarizes the IXPE mission science objectives, describes the Observatory implementation concept including the payload and spacecraft elements and summarizes the mission status.read more
Citations
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IXPE - The Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer
TL;DR: The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) as discussed by the authors is a small Explorer mission that will be proposed in response to NASA's upcoming Announcement of Opportunity, which will transform our understanding of the most energetic and exotic astrophysical objects, especially neutron stars and black holes, by measuring the linear polarization of astronomical objects as a function of energy, time and position.
Proceedings ArticleDOI
IXPE Observatory Integrated Thermal, Power, and Attitude Mission Design Analysis
William Kalinowski,Tony Ly,William D. Deininger,Scott Mitchell,Allyn F. Tennant,Brian D. Ramsey,Tim Read,Zach Allen,Jeff Bladt +8 more
TL;DR: How observatory attitude affects power consumption, how the DRM targets drive the observatory power and thermal design, and potential system design trades are examined.
Proceedings ArticleDOI
IXPE Observatory Verification and Validation Approach and Threads Tool
William D. Deininger,Jennifer Erickson,Michele Foster,Janice Houston,Brian L. Smith,Bill Kalinowski,James Masciarelli,Zach Allen,Francesco Santoli,Ettore Del Monte +9 more
TL;DR: The IXPE mission is summarized and the verification, validation and characterization activities planned for the IXPE Mission System are described including the use of V&V threads.
The Gas Pixel Detector as a solar X-ray polarimeter and imager
Sergio Fabiani,Ronaldo Bellazzini,Alessandro Brez,Sergio Di Cosimo,Francesco Lazzarotto,Fabio Muleri,Alda Rubini,Paolo Soffitta,Gloria Spandre +8 more
TL;DR: In this article, the gas pixel detector (GPD) was used for the observation of the Sun in the X-ray band, where it was shown that the GPD can be used to detect solar flares in a wide range of solar flares models involving the emission from thermal and non-thermal processes.
Proceedings ArticleDOI
IXPE Mission System and Development Status
William D. Deininger,William Kalinowski,James Masciarelli,Michael Head,Tim Seek,Mitch Onizuka,Christopher Schroeder,James Tony Moore,Colin Peterson,Benjamin Garelick,Christopher Boree,Tyler Maddox,Kevin Ferrant,Spencer Antoniak,Martin C. Weisskopf,Brian D. Ramsey,Stephen L. O'Dell,Allyn F. Tennant,Rondal Mize,Paolo Soffitta,Fabio Muleri,Francesco Santoli,Ettore Del Monte,Luca Baldini,Michele Pinchera,Alessio Trois,Darren Osborne +26 more
TL;DR: The IXPE Observatory as discussed by the authors, an international collaboration, conducts x-ray imaging polarimetry for multiple categories of cosmic X-ray sources such as neutron stars, stellar-mass black holes, supernova remnants and active galactic nuclei.
References
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Proceedings ArticleDOI
UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XVIII
Abstract: The Kepler spacecraft launched on March 7, 2009, initiating NASA’s first search for Earth-size planets orbiting Sun-like stars. Since launch, Kepler has announced the discovery of 17 exoplanets, including a system of six transiting a Sun-like star, Kepler-11, and the first confirmed rocky planet, Kepler-10b, with a radius of 1.4 that of Earth. Kepler is proving to be a cornucopia of discoveries: it has identified over 1200 candidate planets based on the first 120 days of observations, including 54 that are in or near the habitable zone of their stars, and 68 that are 1.2 Earth radii or smaller. An astounding 408 of these planetary candidates are found in 170 multiple systems, demonstrating the compactness and flatness of planetary systems composed of small planets. Never before has there been a photometer capable of reaching a precision near 20 ppm in 6.5 hours and capable of conducting nearly continuous and uninterrupted observations for months to years. In addition to exoplanets, Kepler is providing a wealth of astrophysics, and is revolutionizing the field of asteroseismology. Designing and building the Kepler photometer and the software systems that process and analyze the resulting data to make the discoveries presented a daunting set of challenges, including how to manage the large data volume. The challenges continue into flight operations, as the photometer is sensitive to its thermal environment, complicating the task of detecting 84 ppm drops in brightness corresponding to Earth-size planets transiting Sun-like stars.
Proceedings ArticleDOI
The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE)
Martin C. Weisskopf,Brian D. Ramsey,Stephen L. O'Dell,Allyn F. Tennant,Ronald F. Elsner,Paolo Soffitta,Ronaldo Bellazzini,Enrico Costa,Jeffrey Kolodziejczak,Victoria M. Kaspi,Fabio Muleri,Herman L. Marshall,Giorgio Matt,Roger W. Romani +13 more
TL;DR: The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) as mentioned in this paper is an international collaboration for a scientific mission that dramatically brings together the unique talents of the partners to expand observation space by simultaneously adding polarization measurements to the array of source properties currently measured (energy, time, and location).
Journal ArticleDOI
Kepler Science Operations
Michael R. Haas,Natalie M. Batalha,Steve Bryson,Douglas A. Caldwell,Jessie L. Dotson,Jennifer R. Hall,Jon M. Jenkins,Todd C. Klaus,David G. Koch,Jeffrey Kolodziejczak,Christopher K. Middour,Marcie Smith,Charles K. Sobeck,Jeremy Stober,Richard S. Thompson,Jeffrey Van Cleve +15 more
TL;DR: Kepler's mission design includes a comprehensive plan for commissioning and science operations as discussed by the authors, and the Kepler data archive is established and hosting data for the science team, guest observers, and the public.
Posted Content
Enduring Quests-Daring Visions (NASA Astrophysics in the Next Three Decades)
TL;DR: In this paper, a science-driven 30-year vision for the future of NASA Astrophysics is presented, with a focus on the Enduring Quests of this roadmap.
Journal ArticleDOI
First Images from the Focusing Optics X-Ray Solar Imager
Säm Krucker,Säm Krucker,Steven Christe,Lindsay Glesener,Shin-nosuke Ishikawa,Brian D. Ramsey,Tadayuki Takahashi,Shin Watanabe,Shinya Saito,Mikhail Gubarev,Kiranmayee Kilaru,Hiroyasu Tajima,Takaaki Tanaka,Paul Turin,Stephen McBride,David Glaser,Jose Fermin,Stephen M. White,Robert P. Lin +18 more
TL;DR: The Focusing Optics X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) as discussed by the authors was the first sounding rocket payload to produce the first focused images of the Sun above 5 keV, which demonstrated the superiority in sensitivity and dynamic range that is achievable with a direct HXR imager with respect to previous, indirect imaging methods.
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