Panel Session II - The Impact of Space Telescopes on Astronomy

The Chandra X-Ray Observator

Large Area X-ray Spectroscopy Mission

The Large Area X-ray Spectroscopy (LAXS) mission study concept has evolved strongly over the last year culminating in the merging of LAXS with the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) proposal for a similar mission, the Next Generation X-ray Observatory (NGXO, PI: Nick White). The resulting merger, re-named the High Throughput X-rays Spectroscopy (HTXS) Mission has also expanded by the inclusion of another SAO proposed new mission concept proposal, the Hard X-Ray Telescope (PI: Paul Gorenstein). The resultant multi-instrument mission retains much of heritage from the LAXS proposal, including the use of multiple satellites for robustness. These mergers resulted from a series of contacts between various team members, via e-mail, telecons, and in-person meetings. The impetus for the mergers was the fundamental similarity between the missions, and the recognition that all three proposal teams had significant contributions to make in the effort to define the next stage in the X-ray exploration of the universe. We have enclosed four items that represent some of the work that has occurred during the first year of the study: first, a presentation at the Leicester meeting, second a presentation that was made to Dan Goldin following the merging of LAXS and NGXO, third a copy of the first announcement for the Workshop, and finally the interim report that was prepared by the HTXS study team towards the end of the first year. This last document provides the foundation for the HTXS Technology Roadmap that is being generated. The HTXS roadmap will define the near-term goals that the merged mission must achieve over the next few years. A web site has been developed and populated that contains much of the material that has been generated over the past year

Beyond Chandra - the X-ray Surveyor

Over the past 16 years, NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has provided an unparalleled means for exploring the universe with its half-arcsecond angular resolution. Chandra studies have deepened our understanding of galaxy clusters, active galactic nuclei, galaxies, supernova remnants, planets, and solar system objects addressing almost all areas of current interest in astronomy and astrophysics. As we look beyond Chandra, it is clear that comparable or even better angular resolution with greatly increased photon throughput is essential to address even more demanding science questions, such as the formation and subsequent growth of black hole seeds at very high redshift; the emergence of the first galaxy groups; and details of feedback over a large range of scales from galaxies to galaxy clusters. Recently, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, together with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, has initiated a concept study for such a mission named the X-ray Surveyor. This study starts with a baseline payload consisting of a high resolution X-ray telescope and an instrument set which may include an X-ray calorimeter, a wide-field imager and a dispersive grating spectrometer and readout. The telescope would consist of highly nested thin shells, for which a number of technical approaches are currently under development, including adjustable X-ray optics, differential deposition, and modern polishing techniques applied to a variety of substrates. In many areas, the mission requirements would be no more stringent than those of Chandra, and the study takes advantage of similar studies for other large area missions carried out over the past two decades. Initial assessments indicate that such an X-ray mission is scientifically compelling, technically feasible, and worthy of a high rioritization by the next American National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey for Astronomy and Astrophysics.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, paper 9510-01 presented at SPIE Europe, Prague, April 201

Science with the Constellation-X Observatory

The Constellation X-ray Mission is a high throughput X-ray facility emphasizing observations at high spectral resolution (E/\Delta E \sim 300-3000), and broad energy bandpass (0.25-40 keV). Constellation-X will provide a factor of nearly 100 increase in sensitivity over current high resolution X-ray spectroscopy missions. It is the X-ray astronomy equivalent of large ground-based optical telescopes such as the Keck Observatory and the ESO Very Large Telescope. When observations commence toward the end of next decade, Constellation-X will address many fundamental astrophysics questions such as: the formation and evolution of clusters of galaxies; constraining the baryon content of the Universe; determining the spin and mass of supermassive black holes in AGN; and probing strong gravity in the vicinity of black holes.Comment: to appear in "After the Dark Ages: When Galaxies Were Young", eds. S.S. Holt and E.P. Smith, 4 pages, 1 figur

Lynx X-Ray Observatory: Response to the First Astro 2020 Decadal Survey Request for Information

This document serves as the Lynx Teams response to the first Request For Information (RFI) from the 2020 Decadal Survey in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Detailed answers to all of the questions asked in this RFI can be found in the Lynx Concept Study Report, Supplementary Technology Roadmaps, and the Lynx Cost Book

The Advanced X-ray Spectroscopy and Imaging Observatory (AXSIO)

Following recommendations from the 2010 "New Worlds, New Horizons" (NWNH) report, the Advanced X-ray Spectroscopy and Imaging Observatory (AXSIO) concept streamlines the International X-ray Observatory (IXO) mission to concentrate on the science objectives that are enabled by high-resolution spectroscopic capabilities. AXSIO will trace orbits close to the event horizon of black holes, measure black hole spin for tens of supermassive black holes (SMBH), use spectroscopy to characterize outflows and the environment of AGN during their peak activity, observe 5MBH out to redshift z=6, map bulk motions and turbulence in galaxy clusters, find the missing baryons in the cosmic web using background quasars, and observe the process of cosmic feedback where black holes and supernovae inject energy on galactic and intergalactic scales. These measurements are enabled by a 0.9 sq m collecting area at 1.25 keV, a micro calorimeter array providing high-resolution spectroscopic imaging and a deployable high efficiency grating spectrometer. AXSIO delivers a 30-fold increase in effective area for high resolution spectroscopy. The key simplifications are guided by recommendations in the NWNH panel report include a reduction in focal length from 20m to 10m, eliminating the extendable optical bench, and a reduction in the instrument complement from six to two, avoiding a movable instrument platform. A focus on spectroscopic science allows the spatial resolution requirement to be relaxed to 10 arc sec (with a 5 arc sec goal). These simplifications decrease the total mission cost to under the $2B cost to NASA recommended by NWNH. AXSIO will be available to the entire astronomical community with observing allocations based on peer-review

Astro2010: State of the Profession Position Paper: The Value of Observatory-Class Missions

The dramatic success of NASA’s astrophysics science program over the past 20 years has resulted from a series of assets in space ranging from Small Explorers to Observatory-Class missions. NASA’s Observatory-Class missions, such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), form the cornerstone of this program by providing all researchers, regardless of institutional affiliation, a spectrum of science opportunities across programs large and small. These observatories stand out in their breadth of capabilities and consequent diversity of high impact science, their reach within the scientific community, and their proven ability to inspire the nation. Each mission was designed to address specific scientific imperatives recognized by past Decadal Survey Committees, whether it was to refine the extragalactic distance scale, examine galaxies as they were in the distant past, determine the relationship between black holes and quasars, observe the ultimate fate of stars in their death throes, or reveal heavily obscured regions of star-formation. These were ambitious goals, as are those envisioned for future Observatory-Class missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Optimization of grazing incidence mirrors and its application to surveying X-ray telescopes

Grazing incidence mirrors for X-ray astronomy are usually designed in the parabola-hyperbola (Wolter I) configuration. This design allows for optimal images on-axis, which however degrade rapidly with the off-axis angle. Mirror surfaces described by polynomia (with terms higher than order two), have been put forward to improve the performances over the field of view. Here we present a refined procedure aimed at optimizing wide-field grazing incidence telescopes for X-ray astronomy. We improve the angular resolution over existing (wide-field) designs by ~ 20%. We further consider the corrections for the different plate scale and focal plane curvature of the mirror shells, which sharpen by another ~ 20% the image quality. This results in a factor of ~ 2 reduction in the observing time needed to achieve the same sensitivity over existing wide-field designs and of ~ 5 over Wolter I telescopes. We demonstrate that such wide-field X-ray telescopes are highly advantageous for deep surveys of the X-ray sky.Comment: 8 pages 4 figures. Accepted for publication on A&A (macro included

Fifteen Years of Chandra Operation: Scientific Highlights and Lessons Learned

NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, designed for three years of operation with a goal of five years is now entering its 15-th year of operation. Thanks to its superb angular resolution, the Observatory continues to yield new and exciting results, many of which were totally unanticipated prior to launch. We discuss the current technical status, review recent scientific highlights, indicate a few future directions, and present what we feel is the most important lesson learned from our experience of building and operating this great observatory

The X-Ray Surveyor Mission Concept Study Plan

No abstract availabl