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A suborbital payload for soft X-ray spectroscopy of extended sources

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Abstract

We present a suborbital rocket payload capable of performing soft X-ray spectroscopy on extended sources. The payload can reach resolutions of ∼100 (λ/ Δλ) over sources as large as 3.25° in diameter in the 17–107 Å bandpass. This permits analysis of the overall energy balance of nearby supernova remnants and the detailed nature of the diffuse soft X-ray background. The main components of the instrument are: wire grid collimators, off-plane grating arrays and gaseous electron multiplier detectors. This payload is adaptable to longer duration orbital rockets given its comparatively simple pointing and telemetry requirements and an abundance of potential science targets.

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Acknowledgements

This project was funded by NASA grant NNX09AC23G. We thank the Wallops and White Sands Missile Range support personnel from flights 36.224 and 36.252 for all of their critical work on the project. We would also like to thank Luxel for their help in improving our GEM windows, Toru Tamagawa for his assistance with our GEM plates, Charlie Zabel for his constant help with our gas system and the Hodgsons and JILA machine shop for cutting our metal. The success of these missions was reliant on the work done by Travis Curtis, Mike Kaiser, Nico Nell, Eric Schindhelm, Ted Schultz, Ann Shipley and Ben Zeiger.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado, 1255 38th St, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA

    Phillip H. H. Oakley & Webster Cash

  2. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA

    Randall L. McEntaffer

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  1. Phillip H. H. Oakley
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Correspondence to Phillip H. H. Oakley.

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Oakley, P.H.H., McEntaffer, R.L. & Cash, W. A suborbital payload for soft X-ray spectroscopy of extended sources. Exp Astron 31, 23–44 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-011-9222-9

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