Related papers: Science with the Constellation-X Observatory
X-ray astronomy is closely related to the study of black hole sources. The discovery that some unseen objects, more massive than any degenerate star, emit huge amounts of X-rays helped accept the concept that back holes are present in X-ray…
Thanks to high-resolution and non-dispersive spectrometers onboard future X-ray missions such as XRISM and Athena, we are finally poised to answer important questions about the formation and evolution of galaxies and large-scale structure.…
The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory eXplorer (AMEGO-X) is designed to identify and characterize gamma rays from extreme explosions and accelerators. The main science themes include: supermassive black holes and their connections…
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…
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…
This white paper highlights compact object and fundamental physics science opportunities afforded by high-throughput broadband (0.1-60 keV) X-ray polarization observations. X-ray polarimetry gives new observables with geometric information…
Clusters of galaxies at high redshift (z>1) are vitally important to understand the evolution of the large scale structure of the Universe, the processes shaping galaxy populations and the cycle of the cosmic baryons, and to constrain…
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…
Star-forming regions have been the targets of X-ray observations since the dawn of satellite X-ray astronomy. The increase in sensitivity and/or spatial resolution offered by XMM-Newton and Chandra allows a dramatic improvement, both…
A fraction of the active supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies in our Universe are capable of launching extreme kiloparsec-long relativistic jets. These jets are known multiband (radio to $\gamma$-ray) and multimessenger…
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…
The soft X-ray band hosts a larger, more diverse range of variable sources than any other region of the electromagnetic spectrum. They are stars, compact binaries, SMBH's, the X-ray components of Gamma-Ray Bursts, their X-ray afterglows,…
The cosmic X-ray background (CXB), which peaks at an energy of ~30 keV, is produced primarily by emission from accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The CXB therefore serves as a constraint on the integrated SMBH growth in the…
Large X-ray observatories such as Chandra and XMM-Newton have been delivering scientific breakthroughs in research fields as diverse as our Solar System, the astrophysics of stars, stellar explosions and compact objects, accreting…
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…
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,…
Modern X-ray observatories yield unique insight into the astrophysical time domain. Each X-ray photon can be assigned an arrival time, an energy and a sky position, yielding sensitive, energy-dependent light curves and enabling…
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…
In the ROSAT era of the mid-1990's, the problems facing deep X-ray surveys could be largely solved with 10 m class telescopes. In the first decade of this new millennium, with X-ray telescopes such as the Chandra X-ray Observatory and…
Cosmic objects emit throughout the electro-magnetic spectrum, from radio waves to very high-energy gamma rays. Some spectral regions can be observed from the ground, but space instrumentation is needed for most of them. Some spectral…