Related papers: AXAF in Context: A Revolution
Significant advances in science inevitably occur when the state of the art in instrumentation improves. NASA's newest Great Observatory, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory (CXO) -- formally known as the Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility…
Much of the baryonic matter in the Universe, including the most active and luminous sources, are best studied in the X-ray band. Key advances in X-ray optics and detectors have paved the way for the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS),…
Grazing-incidence X-ray optics have revolutionized X-ray astrophysics. The ability to concentrate flux to a tiny detection region provides a dramatic reduction in background and a consequent very large improvement in sensitivity. The X-ray…
This essay sketches the development of X-ray Absorption Fine Spectroscopy (XAFS) ever since the second half of 20th century. At that time, synchrotrons started competing with X-ray discharge tubes as the sources of the excitation able to…
The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions developed by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), with a planned launch in 2015. The ASTRO-H mission is equipped with a…
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…
The launch of the Chandra (NASA) and XMM-Newton (ESA) X-ray observatories in 1999 has revolutionized our view of the Universe, by providing astrophysical information about many classes of sources with unprecedent detail. The high throughput…
The NASA program in X-ray astronomy has two long term goals: 1) to achieve sufficient angular resolution to image the event horizon of a black hole (0.1 micro arc sec) and 2) to achieve sufficient collecting area (50-150 sq m) and angular…
The AXIS Community Science Book represents the collective effort of 592 scientists worldwide to define the transformative science enabled by the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS), a next-generation X-ray mission selected by NASA's…
X-ray Astrophysics, which addresses extreme physics in extreme conditions, is particularly well suited for answering questions related to known physics. Reversely tiny effects, but integrated along sidereal distances, allow to probe…
The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) promises revolutionary science in the X-ray and multi-messenger time domain. AXIS will leverage excellent spatial resolution (<1.5 arcsec), sensitivity (80x that of Swift), and a large collecting…
Two major X-ray satellites, AXAF & XMM, will be launched in 1998/1999. Both satellites have spectral and imaging capabilities, and are several times more sensitive than either ROSAT or ASCA. AXAF & XMM will yield significant scientific…
Significant advances in science always take place when the state of the art in instrumentation improves dramatically. NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory represents such an advance. Launched in July of 1999, Chandra is an observatory designed…
The USA Experiment is a new X-ray timing experiment with large collecting area and microsecond time resolution capable of conducting a broad program of studies of galactic X-ray binaries. USA is one of nine experiments aboard the Advanced…
The High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) Spectrometer on the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF) (scheduled for launch in August, 1998) will provide a new tool for the study of absorption in the X-ray spectra of high redshift…
I summarize the excitement of my role primarily in the early years of X-ray Astronomy. As a "second-generation" X-ray astronomer, I was privileged to participate in the enormous advance of the field, both technically and astrophysically,…
In this chapter, we briefly review the history of X-ray astronomy through its missions. We follow a temporal development, from the first instruments onboard rockets and balloons to the most recent and complex space missions. We intend to…
NASA regards data handling and archiving as an integral part of space missions, and has a strong track record of serving astrophysics data to the public, beginning with the the IRAS satellite in 1983. Archives enable a major science return…
High energy astrophysics has made good use of combined high energy (X-ray, gamma-ray) and radio observations to uncover connections between outbursts, accretion, particle acceleration and kinetic feedback to the local ambient medium. In the…
Over the next decade, we can expect time domain astronomy to flourish at optical and radio wavelengths. In parallel with these efforts, a dedicated transient "machine" operating at higher energies (X-ray band through soft gamma-rays) is…