0000000000811627
AUTHOR
Alan Smith
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final down-selection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument, LOFT will study the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions of accretion flows close to black holes and neutron stars, and the supra-nuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m 2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 deg collimated field of view) and a WideFi…
OMC: An Optical Monitoring Camera for INTEGRAL
The Optical Monitoring Camera (OMC) will observe the optical emission from the prime targets of the gamma- ray instruments onboard the ESA mission INTEGRAL, with the support of the JEM-X monitor in the X-ray domain. This capability will provide invaluable diagnostic information on the nature and the physics of the sources over a broad wavelength range. Its main scientific objectives are: (1) to monitor the optical emission from the sources observed by the gamma- and X-ray instruments, measuring the time and intensity structure of the optical emission for comparison with variability at high energies, and (2) to provide the brightness and position of the optical counterpart of any gamma- or X…