17 research outputs found
X-ray Evaluation of the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-Ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS) Nickel-Replicated Mirrors
X-ray observations of astronomical objects provides diagnostics not available in any other wavelength regime, however the capability of making these observation at a high spatial resolution has proven challenging. Recently, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has made good progress in employing computer numerical control (CNC) polishing techniques on electroless nickel mandrels as part of our replicated grazing incidence optics program. CNC polishing has afforded the ability to deterministically refine mandrel figure, thereby improving mirror performance. The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS) is a MSFC-led sounding rocket instrument that is designed to make the first ever soft x-ray spectral observations of the Sun spatially resolved along a narrow slit. MaGIXS incorporates some of the first mirrors produced at MSFC using this polishing technique. Here we present the predicted mirror performance obtained from metrology, after completion of CNC polishing, as well as the results of X-ray tests performed on the MaGIXS telescope mirror before and after mounting
VUV Testing of Science Cameras at MSFC: QE Measurement of the CLASP Flight Cameras
The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed a science camera suitable for sub-orbital missions for observations in the UV, EUV and soft X-ray. Six cameras were built and tested for the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha Spectro-Polarimeter (CLASP), a joint National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and MSFC sounding rocket mission. The CLASP camera design includes a frame-transfer e2v CCD57-10 512x512 detector, dual channel analog readout electronics and an internally mounted cold block. At the flight operating temperature of -20 C, the CLASP cameras achieved the low-noise performance requirements (less than or equal to 25 e- read noise and greater than or equal to 10 e-/sec/pix dark current), in addition to maintaining a stable gain of approximately equal to 2.0 e-/DN. The e2v CCD57-10 detectors were coated with Lumogen-E to improve quantum efficiency (QE) at the Lyman- wavelength. A vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) monochromator and a NIST calibrated photodiode were employed to measure the QE of each camera. Four flight-like cameras were tested in a high-vacuum chamber, which was configured to operate several tests intended to verify the QE, gain, read noise, dark current and residual non-linearity of the CCD. We present and discuss the QE measurements performed on the CLASP cameras. We also discuss the high-vacuum system outfitted for testing of UV and EUV science cameras at MSFC
Full-Shell X-Ray Optics Development at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) maintains an active research program toward the development of high-resolution, lightweight, grazing-incidence x-ray optics to serve the needs of future x-ray astronomy missions such as Lynx. MSFC development efforts include both direct fabrication (diamond turning and deterministic computer-controlled polishing) of mirror shells and replication of mirror shells (from figured, polished mandrels). Both techniques produce full-circumference monolithic (primary + secondary) shells that share the advantages of inherent stability, ease of assembly, and low production cost. However, to achieve high-angular resolution, MSFC is exploring significant technology advances needed to control sources of figure error including fabrication- and coating-induced stresses and mounting-induced distortions
Determining the Frequency of Coronal Heating with the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-Ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS)
No abstract availabl
Calibration of the MaGIXS experiment II: Flight Instrument Calibration
The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS) is a sounding
rocket experiment that observes the soft X-ray spectrum of the Sun from 6.0 -
24 Angstrom (0.5 - 2.0 keV), successfully launched on 30 July 2021. End-to-end
alignment of the flight instrument and calibration experiments are carried out
using the X-ray and Cryogenic Facility (XRCF) at NASA Marshall Space Flight
Center. In this paper, we present the calibration experiments of MaGIXS, which
include wavelength calibration, measurement of line spread function, and
determination of effective area. Finally, we use the measured instrument
response function to predict the expected count rates for MaGIXS flight
observation looking at a typical solar active regionComment: 20 pages, 16 figures, Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Determining the nanoflare heating frequency of an X-ray Bright Point observed by MaGIXS
Nanoflares are thought to be one of the prime candidates that can heat the
solar corona to its multi-million kelvin temperature. Individual nanoflares are
difficult to detect with the present generation instruments, however their
presence can be inferred by comparing simulated nanoflare-heated plasma
emissions with the observed emission. Using HYDRAD coronal loop simulations, we
model the emission from an X-ray bright point (XBP) observed by the Marshall
Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer (MaGIXS), along with nearest-available
observations from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard Solar Dynamics
Observatory (SDO) and X-Ray Telescope (XRT) onboard Hinode observatory. The
length and magnetic field strength of the coronal loops are derived from the
linear-force-free extrapolation of the observed photospheric magnetogram by
Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard SDO. Each loop is assumed to be
heated by random nanoflares, whose magnitude and frequency are determined by
the loop length and magnetic field strength. The simulation results are then
compared and matched against the measured intensity from AIA, XRT, and MaGIXS.
Our model results indicate the observed emissions from the XBP under study
could be well matched by a distribution of nanoflares with average delay times
1500 s to 3000 s, which suggest that the heating is dominated by high-frequency
events. Further, we demonstrate the high sensitivity of MaGIXS and XRT to
diagnose the heating frequency using this method, while AIA passbands are found
to be the least sensitive.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ