Related papers: Laboratory coded aperture imaging experiments: rad…
Imaging at hard X-ray energies (~10-600 keV) over very large fields of view (~60 deg per telescope) is required to conduct a high sensitivity all-sky and all-time survey for black holes. The proposed Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope…
EXIST is being studied as the Black Hole Finder Probe, one of the 3 Einstein Probe missions under NASA's Beyond Einstein program. The major science goals for EXIST include highly sensitive full-sky hard X-ray survey in a very wide energy…
We outline our plan to develop ProtoEXIST, a balloon-borne prototype experiment for the Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) for the Black Hole Finder Probe. EXIST will consist of multiple wide-field hard X-ray coded-aperture…
The primary instrument of the proposed EXIST mission is a coded mask high energy telescope (the HET), that must have a wide field of view and extremely good sensitivity. It will be crucial to minimize systematic errors so that even for very…
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a proposed very large area coded aperture telescope array, incorporating 8m^2 of pixellated Cd-Zn-Te (CZT) detectors, to conduct a full-sky imaging and temporal hard x-ray (10-600 keV)…
A deep all-sky imaging hard x-ray survey and wide-field monitor is needed to extend soft (ROSAT) and medium (ABRIXAS2) x-ray surveys into the 10-100 keV band (and beyond) at comparable sensitivity (~0.05 mCrab). This would enable discovery…
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is under study for the proposed Black Hole Finder Probe, one of the three Einstein Probe missions in NASA's proposed Beyond Einstein Program. EXIST would have unique capabilities: it…
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is designed to i) use the birth of stellar mass black holes, as revealed by cosmic Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), as probes of the very first stars and galaxies to exist in the Universe. Both…
We report our progress on the development of pixellated imaging CZT detector arrays for our first-generation balloon-borne wide-field hard X-ray (20 - 600 keV) telescope, ProtoEXIST1. Our ProtoEXIST program is a pathfinder for the High…
Several payloads for hard X-ray (20-600 keV) imaging with coded aperture telescopes have been developed for balloon flight observations of cosmic x-ray sources. We briefly review the characteristics of these, particularly the EXITE2 system.…
We have constructed a moderately large area (32 cm2), fine pixel (2.5 mm pixel, 5 mm thick) CZT imaging detector which constitutes the first section of a detector module (256 cm2) developed for a balloon-borne wide-field hard X-ray…
The hard x-ray (10-600 keV) sky is inherently time variable and yet has neither been surveyed nor monitored with a sensitive imaging telescope. The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a mission concept, proposed for MIDEX,…
Spectral features can arise by reflection of coronal X-rays on a black hole accretion disc. The resulting profile bears various imprints of strong gravitational field acting on the light emitting gas. The observed shape of the reflection…
We describe the detector development for a balloon-borne wide-field hard X-ray (20 - 600 keV) telescope, ProtoEXIST. ProtoEXIST is a pathfinder for both technology and science of the proposed implementation of the Black Hole Finder Probe,…
The Energetic X-ray Timing Survey Telescope (EXIST) mission concept is under study as the Black Hole Finder Probe (BHFP), one of the three Einstein Probe missions in the Beyond Einstein Program in the current NASA Strategic Plan. EXIST…
We report our in-depth study of Cd-Zn-Te (CZT) crystals to determine an optimum pixel and guard band configuration for Hard X-ray imaging and spectroscopy. We tested 20x20x5mm crystals with 8x8 pixels on a 2.46mm pitch. We have studied…
Modeling the radiation generated by accreting matter is an important step towards realistic simulations of black hole accretion disks, especially at high accretion rates. To this end, we have recently added radiation transport to the…
We discuss the implications of new relations between black holes' masses, X-ray luminosities and radio luminosities, as well as the properties of the next generation of radio telescopes, for the goal of finding isolated accreting black…
Wide-field (> 100 deg$^2$) hard X-ray coded-aperture telescopes with high angular resolution (< 2') will enable a wide range of time domain astrophysics. For instance, transient sources such as gamma-ray bursts can be precisely localized…
The Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) is a proposed next generation multi-wavelength survey mission. The primary instrument is a High Energy telescope (HET) that conducts the deepest survey for Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs),…