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Techniques in X-ray astronomy

1. Imaging Telescopes

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Abstract

X-ray astronomy has benefited enormously with the deployment of imaging X-ray telescopes in space, leading to a veritable revolution. Such telescopes require distortion free focusing of X-rays and the use of position sensitive X-ray detectors. In this article I shall describe the importance of X-ray imaging, the optical principles behind the creation of images and the instruments based on these principles. The various techniques used to fabricate such X-ray telescopes are described briefly. The many types of detectors used in X-ray astronomy will be described in the second part of this article in a subsequent issue ofResonance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, 400 005, Mumbai, India

    Kulinder Pal Singh

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  1. Kulinder Pal Singh
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Correspondence to Kulinder Pal Singh.

Additional information

Kulinder Pal Singh is in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. His primary fields of research are X-ray studies of hot plasmas in stars, supernova remnants, galaxies, intergalactic medium in clusters of galaxies, active galactic nuclei, cataclysmic variables and X-ray binaries. He is leading the development of a soft X-ray imaging telescope for the ASTROSAT mission to be launched by India in 2007–2008.

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Singh, K.P. Techniques in X-ray astronomy. Reson 10, 15–23 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895791

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02895791

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