2021: International X-ray Observatory

An artist's conception of the International X-ray Observatory.  Credit: Chris Meaney, NASA.

Before I had done my research on this telescope I was super jazzed about possibly working on this during the summer. This was a joint effort between NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). But like most things these days, when it comes to the recession in America, we as a nation have pulled out of agreement. 


In my previous blog I had talk about this being one of the projects that I wanted to work on. So without fail I am still signed up to work on it. Maybe this could mean that they will send me out of the US for the first time??? One can hope.


Quick and Dirty facts on IXO:

IXO will explore X-ray Universe and address the following fundamental and timely questions in astrophysics:

• What happens close to a black hole?
• How did supermassive black holes grow?
• How do large scale structures form?
• What is the connection between these processes?

IXO has a single large X-ray mirror assembly and an extendible optical bench with a focal length of ~20 m, and a suite of focal plane instruments.

Performance Requirements

Parameter	Requirement	Science Drivers	Instruments
Mirror Effective  Area	3 m2 @1.25 keV  0.65 m2 @ 6 keV  0.015 m2 @ 30 keV	Black Hole Evolution Strong gravity Strong gravity
Spectral Resolution (FWHM), FOV, bandpass	ΔE = 2.5 eV,  2 arcmin,  0.3 – 7 keV ΔE = 10 eV,  5 arcmin,   0.3 – 7 keV ΔE =150 eV, 18 arcmin,  0.1– 15 keV E/ΔE = 3000, point src,  0.3 – 1 keV	Galaxy Cluster Evolution Cosmic Feedback Black Hole Evolution Cosmic Web	XMS XMS WFI/HXI XGS
Angular Resolution	5 arcsec HPD,   0.3 – 7 keV 5 arcsec HPD,   0.3 – 7 keV 30 arcsec HPD,  7.0 – 40 keV	Cosmic feedback, Black Hole Evolution Strong Gravity	XMS WFI/HXI WFI/HXI
Count Rate	106 cps with < 10% deadtime	Neutron Star  Equation of State	HTRS
Polarimetry	1% MDP, 100 ksec, 5×10-12  cgs (2–6 keV)	Strong Gravity	XPOL

Hey I can read these now!  Plot of the effective area of the IXO mirror and focal plane instruments compared to those of current X-ray observatories, showing the large improvement at all energies. Credit: NASA/GSFC 

Plot of the spectral resolution of the IXO calorimeter and grating (lower limit) compared to current X-ray observatories. The bottom panel shows the emission lines of the various elements in the energy range 0.1-3.0 keV (color) and their sum (black). Credit: NASA/GSFC.

To demonstrate the orbit NASA came up with a clever picture:

IXO's planned orbit and distance from Earth

As you can see there is a fundamental question that arises here: What if it breaks? We are way to far away from IXO to get there and back in any sort of reasonable amount of time. Or sadly more likely: What if I never works? Houston we are a dead stick! 

And there is the rub. Maybe this is why NASA pulled out when this X-Ray telescope was just starting to make some headway. Or maybe the financial strain was just too much for the economy. Whatever the reason there are more and more projects like these that are being swept under the rug and I believe that it is our job as scientist to make sure they have their day!