POLARIX: a small mission of x-ray polarimetry
Abstract
X-Ray Polarimetry can be now performed by using a Micro Pattern Gas Chamber in the focus of a telescope. It requires large area optics for most important scientific targets. But since the technique is additive a dedicated mission with a cluster of small telescopes can perform many important measurements and bridge the 40 year gap between OSO-8 data and future big telescopes such as XEUS. POLARIX has been conceived as such a pathfinder. It is a Small Satellite based on the optics of JET-X. Two telescopes are available in flight configuration and three more can be easily produced starting from the available superpolished mandrels. We show the capabilities of such a cluster of telescopes each equipped with a focal plane photoelectric polarimeter and discuss a few alternative solutions.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0609576,
title = {POLARIX: a small mission of x-ray polarimetry},
author = {Enrico Costa and Ronaldo Bellazzini and Paolo Soffitta and Fabio Muleri and Marco Feroci and Massimo Frutti and Marcello Mastropietro and Luigi Pacciani and Alda Rubini and Ennio Morelli and Luca Baldini and Francesco Bitti and Alessandro Brez and Francesco Cavalca and Luca Latronico and Marco Maria Massai and Nicola Omodei and Michele Pinchera and Carmelo Sgro' and Gloria Spandre and Giorgio Matt and Giuseppe Cesare Perola and Guido Chincarini and Oberto Citterio and Gianpiero Tagliaferri and Giovanni Pareschi and Vincenzo Cotroneo},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0609576},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
9 pages, 5 figures