0000000000084807
AUTHOR
A. Jimenez Escobar
Thermal Filters for the ATHENA X-IFU: Ongoing Activities Toward the Conceptual Design
ATHENA is the L2 mission selected by ESA to pursue the science theme “Hot and Energetic Universe.” One of the two focal plane instruments is the X-ray Integral Field Unit, an array of TES microcalorimeters operated at T $$<$$ 100 mK. To allow the X-ray photons focused by the telescope to reach the detector, windows have to be opened on the cryostat thermal shields. X-ray transparent filters need to be mounted on these open windows to attenuate the IR radiation from warm surfaces, to attenuate RF electromagnetic interferences on TES sensors and SQUID electronics, and to protect the detector from contamination. This paper reviews the ongoing activities driving the design of the X-IFU thermal …
Soft X-Ray Irradiation of Methanol Ice: Implication for H2CO Formation in Interstellar Regions
We performed 0.3 keV soft X-ray irradiation of a methanol ice at 8 K under ultra-high vacuum conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that soft X-rays are used to study photolysis of ice analogs. Despite the low irradiation dose of 10{sup -6} photons molecule{sup -1}, the formation of formaldehyde has been observed. The results of our experiments suggest that X-rays may be a promising candidate to the formation of complex molecules in regions where UV radiation is severely inhibited.