Large Observatory for x-ray Timing (LOFT-P): a Probe-class mission concept study

Autor: S. Korpela, Luigi Stella, M. Michalska, Stéphane Schanne, Randall C. Hopkins, Berend Winter, Robert Hickman, Billy Carson, Andrea Santangelo, Bert Gangl, Marco Feroci, Chris Becker, Jay Garcia, Silvia Zane, A. Domínguez, Thomas J. Maccarone, Laura Alvarez, Michelle Hui, Luster Ingram, Leo Fabisinski, Peter Jenke, Margarita Hernanz, Paul S. Ray, Enrico Bozzo, Søren Brandt, Christopher V. Griffith, Martin Pohl, Michiel van der Klis, Michael Baysinger, Anna L. Watts, Andrew Schnell, Deepto Chakrabarty, Jack Chapman, Colleen A. Wilson-Hodge
Přispěvatelé: High Energy Astrophys. & Astropart. Phys (API, FNWI), den Herder, Jan-Willem A., Takahashi, Tadayuki, Bautz, Marshall
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray: 26 June-1 July 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 3
Wilson-Hodge, C A, Ray, P S, Chakrabarty, D, Feroci, M, Alvarez, L, Baysinger, M, Becker, C, Bozzo, E, Brandt, S, Carson, B, Chapman, J, Dominguez, A, Fabisinski, L, Gangl, B, Garcia, J, Griffith, C, Hernanz, M, Hickman, R, Hopkins, R, Hui, M, Ingram, L, Jenke, P, Korpela, S, Maccarone, T, Michalska, M, Pohl, M, Santangelo, A, Schanne, S, Schnell, A, Stella, L, van der Klis, M, Watts, A, Winter, B & Zane, S 2016, Large Observatory for x-ray Timing (LOFT-P): a Probe-class mission concept study . in J-W A den Herder, T Takahashi & M Bautz (eds), Proceedings of Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray . vol. 9905, 99054Y, SPIE-International Society for Optical Engineering, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 26/06/2016 . https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232944
Popis: LOFT-P is a concept for a NASA Astrophysics Probe-Class (6 m^2, >10x RXTE), high time resolution, good spectral resolution, broad-band spectral coverage (2-30 keV), highly flexible scheduling, and an ability to detect and respond promptly to time-critical targets of opportunity. It addresses science questions such as: What is the equation of state of ultra dense matter? What are the effects of strong gravity on matter spiraling into black holes? It would be optimized for sub-millisecond timing to study phenomena at the natural timescales of neutron star surfaces and black hole event horizons and to measure mass and spin of black holes. These measurements are synergistic to imaging and high-resolution spectroscopy instruments, addressing much smaller distance scales than are possible without very long baseline X-ray interferometry, and using complementary techniques to address the geometry and dynamics of emission regions. A sky monitor (2-50 keV) acts as a trigger for pointed observations, providing high duty cycle, high time resolution monitoring of the X-ray sky with ~20 times the sensitivity of the RXTE All-Sky Monitor, enabling multi-wavelength and multi-messenger studies. A probe-class mission concept would employ lightweight collimator technology and large-area solid-state detectors, technologies which have been recently greatly advanced during the ESA M3 study. Given the large community interested in LOFT (>800 supporters, the scientific productivity of this mission is expected to be very high, similar to or greater than RXTE (~2000 refereed publications). We describe the results of a study, recently completed by the MSFC Advanced Concepts Office, that demonstrates that LOFT-P is feasible within a NASA probe-class mission budget.
Comment: Proc. SPIE 9905, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2016: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 99054Y (July 18, 2016)
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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