Search

© 2020 SPIE We describe a new implementation of a broad-band soft X-ray polarimeter, substantially based on a previous design. This implementation, the Pioneer Soft X-ray Polarimeter (PiSoX) is a SmallSat, designed for NASA's call for Astrophysics Pioneers, small missions that could be CubeSats, balloon experiments, or SmallSats. As in REDSoX, the grating arrangement is designed optimally for the purpose of polarimetry with broad-band focussing optics by matching the dispersion of the spectrometer channels to laterally graded multilayers (LGMLs). The system can achieve polarization modulation factors over 90%. For PiSoX, the optics are lightweight Si mirrors in a one-bounce parabolic configuration. High efficiency, blazed gratings from opposite sectors are oriented to disperse to a LGML forming a channel covering the wavelength range from 35 Å to 75 Å (165 - 350 eV). Upon satellite rotation, the intensities of the dispersed spectra, after reflection and polarizing by the LGMLs, give the three Stokes parameters needed to determine a source's linear polarization fraction and orientation. The design can be extended to higher energies as LGMLs are developed further. We describe examples of the potential scientific return from instruments based on this design.

We describe an implementation of a broad-band soft X-ray polarimeter, substantially based on previous designs. The Globe-Orbiting Soft X-ray Polarimeter (GOSoX) is a SmallSat. As in a related mission concept the PiSoX Polarimeter, the grating arrangement is designed optimally for the purpose of polarimetry matching the dispersion of a spectrometer to a laterally graded multilayer (LGML). For GOSoX, the optics are lightweight Si mirrors in a one-bounce parabolic configuration. The instrument covers the wavelength range from 31 A to 75 A (165 - 400 eV). Upon satellite rotation, the intensities of the dispersed spectra, after reflection and polarizing by the LGMLs, give the three Stokes parameters needed to determine a source's linear polarization fraction and orientation. The design can be extended to higher energies as LGMLs are developed further. We describe the potential scientific return and the proposed mission concept following the results of a JPL Team X concept study.

We describe a new implementation of a broad-band soft X-ray polarimeter, substantially based on a previous design. This implementation, the Pioneer Soft X-ray Polarimeter (PiSoX) is a SmallSat, designed for NASA’s call for Astrophysics Pioneers, small missions that could be CubeSats, balloon experiments, or SmallSats. As in REDSoX, the grating arrangement is designed optimally for the purpose of polarimetry with broad-band focussing optics by matching the dispersion of the spectrometer channels to laterally graded multilayers (LGMLs). The system can achieve polarization modulation factors over 90%. For PiSoX, the optics are lightweight Si mirrors in a one-bounce parabolic configuration. High efficiency, blazed gratings from opposite sectors are oriented to disperse to a LGML forming a channel covering the wavelength range from 35 Å to 75 Å (165 - 350 eV). Upon satellite rotation, the intensities of the dispersed spectra, after reflection and polarizing by the LGMLs, give the three Stokes parameters needed to determine a source’s linear polarization fraction and orientation. The design can be extended to higher energies as LGMLs are developed further. We describe examples of the potential scientific return from instruments based on this design.

Micro-X is a NASA funded, rocket borne X-ray imaging spectrometer that uses transition edge sensors (TESs) to do high-resolution microcalorimetry. The TESs are cooled by an adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator, whose salt pill functions as a heat sink for the detectors. We have made a thermal model of the cryostat with SPICE for the purposes of understanding its behavior at low temperatures. Implementing modifications based on this model has further allowed us to cool the system down to a lower temperature than had previously been accessible and to improve its low-temperature hold time. These modifications include a variety of schemes for power through heat sinks and tweaking the conductance between the cold baths and the refrigerated hardware. We present an overview of the model and its constituent parameters, information about thermal modifications, and a summary of results from thermal tests of the entire system., United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Space Technology Research Fellowship)

The Rocket Experiment Demonstration of a Soft X-ray Polarimeter (REDSoX Polarimeter) is a sounding rocket instrument that can make the first measurement of the linear X-ray p olarization of an extragalactic source in the 0.2-0.8 keV band as low as 10%. We employ multilayer-coated mirrors as Bragg reflectors at the Brewster angle. By matching the dispersion of a spectrometer using replicated optics from MSFC and critical angle transmission gratings from MIT to three laterally graded multilayer mirrors (LGMLs), we achieve polarization modulation factors over 90%. We present a novel arrangement of gratings, designed optimally for the purpose of polarimetry with a converging beam. The entrance aperture is divided into six equal sectors; pairs of blazed gratings from opposite sectors are oriented to disperse to the same LGML. The LGML position angles are 120 degrees to each other. CCD detectors then measure the intensities of the dispersed spectra after reflection and polarizing by the LGMLs, giving the three Stokes parameters needed to determine a source's linear polarization fraction and orientation. A current grant is funding further development to improve the LGMLs. Sample gratings for the project have been fabricated at MIT and the development team continues to improve them under separate funding. Our technological approach is the basis for a possible orbital mission. Keywords: X-ray, polarimeter, astronomy, multilayer, mirror, grating, United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNX17AE11G), United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNX12AH12G), Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research (Research Investment Grant), United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNX17AG43G), United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NNX15AC43G)

Micro-X is a sounding rocket borne X-ray telescope that utilizes transition edge sensors to perform imaging spectroscopy with a high level of energy resolution. Its 2.1m focal length X-ray optic has an effective area of 300 cm 2 , a field of view of 11.8 arcmin, and a bandpass of 0.1-2.5 keV. The detector array has 128 pixels and an intrinsic energy resolution of 4.5 eV FWHM. The integration of the system has progressed with functional tests of the detectors and electronics complete, and performance characterization of the detectors is underway. We present an update of ongoing progress in preparation for the upcoming launch of the instrument., NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship, United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant NNX10AE25G)

Using Suzaku and the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE), we have conducted a series of four simultaneous observations of the galactic black hole candidate Cyg X-1 in what were historically faint and spectrally hard "low states." Additionally, all of these observations occurred near superior conjunction with our line of sight to the X-ray source passing through the dense phases of the "focused wind" from the mass donating secondary. One of our observations was also simultaneous with observations by the Chandra-High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG). These latter spectra are crucial for revealing the ionized absorption due to the secondary's focused wind. Such absorption is present and must be accounted for in all four spectra. These simultaneous data give an unprecedented view of the 0.8-300 keV spectrum of Cyg X-1, and hence bear upon both corona and X-ray emitting jet models of black hole hard states. Three models fit the spectra well: coronae with thermal or mixed thermal/non-thermal electron populations and jets. All three models require a soft component that we fit with a low temperature disk spectrum with an inner radius of only a few tens of GM/c[superscript 2]. All three models also agree that the known spectral break at 10 keV is not solely due to the presence of reflection, but each gives a different underlying explanation for the augmentation of this break. Thus, whereas all three models require that there is a relativistically broadened Fe line, the strength and inner radius of such a line is dependent upon the specific model, thus making premature line-based estimates of the black hole spin in the Cyg X-1 system. We look at the relativistic line in detail, accounting for the narrow Fe emission and ionized absorption detected by HETG. Although the specific relativistic parameters of the line are continuum dependent, none of the broad line fits allow for an inner disk radius that is >40 GM/c [superscript 2]., United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Grant SV3-73016), Chandra X-ray Center (U.S.) (guest observer grant NNX07AF71G), Chandra X-ray Center (U.S.) (guest observer grant NNX08AE23G), Chandra X-ray Center (U.S.) (guest observer grant NNX08AZ66G), U.S. Suzaku Guest Observer Facility (guest observer grant GO8-9036X), German Aerospace Center (DLR) (BMWi, DLR Grant 50 OR 0701), European Commission (grant ITN 215212), Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (OC Fellowship), Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (Vidi Fellowship)

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, 2014., This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections., 120, Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis., Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-249)., Charge exchange, the semi-resonant transfer of an electron from a neutral atom to an excited state in an energetic ion, can occur in plasmas where energetic ions are incident on a cold, at least partially neutral gas. Supernova remnants, especially in the immediate shock region, provide conditions conducive to charge exchange. The emission from post charge-exchange ions as the captured electron cascades down to the ground state, can shed light on the physical conditions of the shock and the immediate post-shock material, providing an important tool for understanding supernova explosions and their aftermath. In the first half of this thesis, I study charge exchange in the galactic supernova remnant G296.1-0.5 in two energy bands: the optical and the X-ray. The optical study, performed using both imaging and high resolution spectroscopy from the IMACS instrument on the Magellan Baade Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, seeks to identify 'Balmer-dominated shocks' in the remnant, which signal the occurrence of charge exchange between hot, postshock protons and colder neutral hydrogen in the environment. The X-ray study probes line ratios in dispersed spectral data obtained with XMM-Newton RGS from an X-ray lobe in the NW of the remnant to hunt for signatures of charge exchange. The dispersed data are degraded by the extended nature of the source, blurring emission lines and making precise measurements difficult. The focus of the second half of this thesis is Micro-X : a sounding rocket-borne X-ray telescope, utilizing an array of microcalorimeters to achieve high energy resolution for even extended sources. I describe the design and commissioning of the payload and the steps toward launch, which is anticipated in the spring of 2015., by Sarah Nicole Trowbridge Heine., Ph. D.

Micro-X is a NASA-funded, sounding rocket-borne X-ray imaging spectrometer that will allow high precision measurements of velocity structure, ionization state and elemental composition of extended astrophysical systems. One of the biggest challenges in payload design is to maintain the temperature of the detectors during launch. There are several vibration damping stages to prevent energy transmission from the rocket skin to the detector stage, which causes heating during launch. Each stage should be more rigid than the outer stages to achieve vibrational isolation. We describe a major design effort to tune the resonance frequencies of these vibration isolation stages to reduce heating problems prior to the projected launch in the summer of 2014.

We present the analysis of 21 bright X-ray knots in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant from observations spanning 10 yr. We performed a comprehensive set of measurements to reveal the kinematic and thermal state of the plasma in each knot, using a combined analysis of two high energy resolution High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) and four medium energy resolution Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) sets of spectra. The ACIS electron temperature estimates agree with the HETG-derived values for approximately half of the knots studied, yielding one of the first comparisons between high resolution temperature estimates and ACIS-derived temperatures. We did not observe the expected spectral evolution—predicted from the ionization age and density estimates for each knot—in all but three of the knots studied. The incompatibility of these measurements with our assumptions has led us to propose a dissociated ejecta model, with the metals unmixed inside the knots, which could place strong constraints on supernova mixing models., United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Award NNX10AE25G), National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Partnerships in Astronomy & Astrophysics Research and Education Grant AST-0849736), United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Earth and Space Science Fellowship), United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Harriet Jenkins Predoctoral Fellowship Program), Vanderbilt University (Provost Graduate Fellowship)