0000000000084819
AUTHOR
Graziella Branduardi-raymont
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 …
The Voyage of Metals in the Universe from Cosmological to Planetary Scales: the need for a Very High-Resolution, High Throughput Soft X-ray Spectrometer
Metals form an essential part of the Universe at all scales. Without metals we would not exist, and the Cosmos would look completely different. Metals are primarily born through nuclear processes in stars. They leave their cradles through winds or explosions, and then start their journey through space. This can lead them in and out of astronomical objects on all scales, ranging from comets, planets, stars, entire galaxies, groups and clusters of galaxies to the largest structures of the Universe. Their wanderings are fundamental in determining how these objects, and the entire universe, evolve. In addition, their bare presence can be used to trace what these structures look like. The scope …
The filter wheel and filters development for the X-IFU instruments onboard Athena
Athena is the large mission selected by ESA in 2013 to investigate the science theme “Hot and Energetic Universe” and presently scheduled for launch in 2028. One of the two instruments located at the focus of the 12 m-long Athena telescope is the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU). This is an array of TES microcalorimeters that will be operated at temperatures of 50 mK in order to perform high resolution spectroscopy with an energy resolution down to 2.5 eV at energies < 7 keV. In order to cope with the large dynamical range of X-ray fluxes spanned by the celestial objects Athena will be observing, the X-IFU will be equipped with a filter wheel. This will allow the user to fine tune the i…
Astrophysics with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
Full list of authors: Amaro-Seoane, Pau; Andrews, Jeff; Sedda, Manuel Arca; Askar, Abbas.; Baghi, Quentin; Balasov, Razvan; Bartos, Imre; Bavera, Simone S.; Bellovary, Jillian; Berry, Christopher P. L.; Berti, Emanuele; Bianchi, Stefano; Blecha, Laura; Blondin, Stephane; Bogdanovic, Tamara; Boissier, Samuel; Bonetti, Matteo; Bonoli, Silvia; Bortolas, Elisa; Breivik, Katelyn; Capelo, Pedro R.; Caramete, Laurentiu; Cattorini, Federico; Charisi, Maria; Chaty, Sylvain; Chen, Xian; Chruslinska, Martyna; Chua, Alvin J. K.; Church, Ross; Colpi, Monica; D'Orazio, Daniel; Danielski, Camilla; Davies, Melvyn B.; Dayal, Pratika; De Rosa, Alessandra; Derdzinski, Andrea; Destounis, Kyriakos; Dotti, Massi…
The optical blocking filter for the ATHENA wide field imager: Ongoing activities towards the conceptual design
ATHENA is the L2 mission selected by ESA to pursue the science theme "Hot and Energetic Universe" (launch scheduled in 2028). One of the key instruments of ATHENA is the Wide Field Imager (WFI) which will provide imaging in the 0.1-15 keV band over a 40'x40' large field of view, together with spectrally and time-resolved photon counting. The WFI camera, based on arrays of DEPFET active pixel sensors, is also sensitive to UV/Vis photons. Optically generated electron-hole pairs may degrade the spectral resolution as well as change the energy scale by introducing a signal offset. For this reason, the use of an X-ray transparent optical blocking filter is needed to allow the observation of all …