Related papers: The Need for Ultra High Resolution X-ray Imaging
We present the science case for a broadband X-ray imager with high-resolution spectroscopy, including simulations of X-ray spectral diagnostics of both active regions and solar flares. This is part of a trilogy of white papers discussing…
High-energy astrophysics is a relatively young scientific field, made possible by space-borne telescopes. During the half-century history of x-ray astronomy, the sensitivity of focusing x-ray telescopes-through finer angular resolution and…
Improving angular resolution is one of X-ray astronomy's big challenges. While X-ray interferometry should eventually vastly improve broad-band angular resolution, in the near-term, X-ray telescopes will sacrifice angular resolution for…
The energy range of hard X-rays is a key waveband to the study of high energy processes in celestial objects, but still remains poorly explored. In contrast to direct imaging methods used in the low energy X-ray and high energy gamma-ray…
Microcalorimeters have demonstrated success in delivering high spectral resolution, and have paved the path to revolutionary new science possibilities in the coming decade of X-ray astronomy. There are several research areas in compact…
One of the few remaining astronomical bands (factor of $\sim$10 in energy range) still without an all-sky imaging survey is the hard x-ray band (10-600 keV). This is in spite of sensitive imaging all-sky surveys already conducted at soft…
Astronomy is by nature a visual science. The high quality imagery produced by the world's observatories can be a key to effectively engaging with the public and helping to inspire the next generation of scientists. Creating compelling…
X-ray observations of galaxies have grown from a curiosity into a full-fledged field of astronomy. These observations provide unique information on black holes, binary stars, and the hot phase of the ISM, which can be used to constrain the…
One of the challenges of X-ray astronomy is how to both collect large numbers of photons yet attain high angular resolution. Because X-ray telescopes utilize grazing optics, to collect more photons requires a larger acceptance angle which…
The Constellation X-ray Mission is a high throughput X-ray facility emphasizing observations at high spectral resolution (E/\Delta E \sim 300-3000), and broad energy bandpass (0.25-40 keV). Constellation-X will provide a factor of nearly…
We summarize some of the compelling new scientific opportunities for understanding stars and stellar systems that can be enabled by sub-milliarcsec (sub-mas) angular resolution, UV-Optical spectral imaging observations, which can reveal the…
We present a mission concept for high resolution X-ray spectroscopy with a resolving power, R~6000, (c.f. R=<1000 for Chandra, XMM-Newton). This resolution is physics-driven, since it allows the thermal widths of coronal X-ray lines to be…
Astrometry provides the foundation for astrophysics. Accurate positions are required for the association of sources detected at different times or wavelengths, and distances are essential to estimate the size, luminosity, mass, and ages of…
In the framework of the study of extragalactic radio sources, we will focus on the importance of the spatial resolution at different wavelengths, and of the combination of observations at different frequency bands. In particular, a…
We propose the development of X-ray interferometry (XRI), to reveal the universe at high energies with ultra-high spatial resolution. With baselines which can be accommodated on a single spacecraft, XRI can reach 100 $\mu$as resolution at…
Hard x-ray imaging is indispensable across diverse fields owing to its high penetrability. However, the resolution of traditional x-ray imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT) systems, is constrained by factors including beam…
Interferometry provides one of the possible routes to ultra-high angular resolution for X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy. Sub-micro-arc-second angular resolution, necessary to achieve objectives such as imaging the regions around the event…
The discovery of X-ray emission from cosmic sources in the 1960s has opened a new powerful observing window on the Universe. In fact, the exploration of the X-ray sky during the 70s-90s has established X-ray astronomy as a fundamental field…
X-ray microscopy has been an indispensable tool to image nanoscale properties for materials research. One of its recent advances is to extend microscopic studies to the time domain for visualizing the dynamics of nanoscale phenomena.…
X-ray astronomy needs to set bold, science driven goals for the next decade. Only with defined science goals can we know what to work on, and a funding agency appreciate the need for significant technology developments. To be a forefront…