X-ray tests of the ATHENA mirror modules in BEaTriX: from design to reality

The BEaTriX (Beam Expander Testing X-ray) facility is now operative at the INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico Brera (Merate, Italy). This facility has been specifically designed and built for the X-ray acceptance tests (PSF and Effective Area) of the ATHENA Silicon Pore Optics (SPO) Mirror Modules (MM). The unique setup creates a parallel, monochromatic, large X-ray beam, that fully illuminates the aperture of the MMs, generating an image at the ATHENA focal length of 12 m. This is made possible by a microfocus X-ray source followed by a chain of optical components (a paraboloidal mirror, 2 channel cut monochromators, and an asymmetric silicon crystal) able to expand the X-ray beam to a 6 cm × 17 cm size with a residual divergence of 1.5 arcsec (vertical) × 2.5 arcsec (horizontal). This paper reports the commissioning of the 4.5 keV beam line, and the first light obtained with a Mirror Module

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services

MIRA: A Low-Noise ASIC With 35-μm Pixel Pitch for the Readout of Microchannel Plates

Spectroscopic observations in the far and extreme ultraviolet (FUV/EUV) spectral regions are of great interest in various scientific fields, such as solar physics, interstellar medium physics, and planetary exospheres studies. In this work, we present microchannel plate readout ASIC (MIRA), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to be coupled with a microchannel plate (MCP) as photons counting detectors for future UV spectrometers working in the 55-200-nm spectral range. The first prototype of MIRA features an MCP 2-D anode readout with a compact pixel size ( 35 x 35 mu m(2)) for a total of 32 x 32 pixels in a 2 x 2 mm(2) ASIC area. MIRA, designed in a 65-nm CMOS process, features two selectable analog processing times (130 or 260 ns), a count rate per pixel of 100 kcps and an equivalent noise charge (ENC) =20 e(-) , smaller than most photon-counting ASICs, to allow operations with lower MCP gains, to extend MCP lifetime for long missions in space. A charge sharing correction logic (CSCL) is implemented inside each pixel to grant a spatial resolution of 35 mu m, even in the case of charge sharing. In this article, the ASIC design is described and the results of its experimental characterization, also in a preliminary test with an MCP, are presented

The x-ray camera of the EXIST/SXI telescope

The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) mission, submitted to the Decadal Survey, is a multiwavelength observatory mainly devoted to the study of Super Massive Black Holes, Gamma Ray Bursts and other transient sources. The set of instruments foreseen for EXIST includes a soft x-ray telescope (SXI), proposed as a contribution of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). We present the baseline design of the X-Ray camera for SXI telescope, that we have finalized under ASI contract. The camera is based on a focal plane detector consisting of a 450 μm thick silicon pixel sensor sensitive, with high QE, in the full SXI range (0.1-10 KeV), and capable of high energy resolution when operated in photon counting mode (E/dE ~ 47 at 6 keV), frame rate ~ 100-200 frames/s (enabling timing in the ms range), and spatial resolution matching the optical characteristics of the mirror module. We provide an overview of the mechanical, thermal and electrical concept of the camera

Spectroscopic observation of planetary and moon exospheres in the ultraviolet

The PLanetary extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (PLUS) is a project funded by the Italian Space Agency focused on the development of an extreme (EUV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) high-performance spectrograph, which adopts a dual channel optical scheme. Thanks to an optimized layout based on the use of Variable Line Space (VLS) gratings in an off-Rowland configuration, high spectral and spatial resolution are achieved. The efficiency improvement is obtained by the optimization of the coatings on the optical components. Improved detection limit, shorter observations integration time and unprecedented performance in terms of dynamic range will be achieved by the use of high resolution/dynamic range solar blind photon counting detectors. The photon counting detectors will be based on a Micro-Channel Plate (MCP) coupled with an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) read out system

A multi-element psychosocial intervention for early psychosis (GET UP PIANO TRIAL) conducted in a catchment area of 10 million inhabitants: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

Multi-element interventions for first-episode psychosis (FEP) are promising, but have mostly been conducted in non-epidemiologically representative samples, thereby raising the risk of underestimating the complexities involved in treating FEP in 'real-world' services

A study of radiative bottomonium transitions using converted photons

19 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. DWe use 111+/-1 million Upsilon(3S) and 89+/-1 million Upsilon(2S) events recorded by the BaBar detector at the PEP-II B-factory at SLAC to perform a study of radiative transitions between bottomonium states using photons that have been converted to e+e- pairs by the detector material. We observe Upsilon(3S) -> gamma chi_b0,2(1P) decay, make precise measurements of the branching fractions for chi_b1,2(1P,2P) -> gamma Upsilon(1S) and chi_b1,2(2P) -> gamma Upsilon(2S) decays, and search for radiative decay to the eta_b(1S) and eta_b(2S) states