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1. The Galileo for Science project: Precise Orbit Determination and force-modeling for the Galileo FOC satellites

Author

Feliciana Sapio, David Lucchesi, Massimo Visco, Carlo Lefevre, Marco Cinelli, Alessandro Di Marco, Emiliano Fiorenza, Pasqualino Loffredo, Marco Lucente, Carmelo Magnafico, Roberto Peron, Francesco Santoli, Natalia Gatto, and Francesco Vespe

Abstract

The Galileo for Science Project (G4S_2.0) is an ongoing project funded by the Italian Space Agency that has several goals in the field of Fundamental Physics by exploiting the Galileo-FOC Constellation and, in particular, GSAT-0201 and GSAT-0202, the two FOC in elliptical orbit. The high eccentricity of their orbits and the accuracy of their atomic clocks allow to measure gravitational redshift and relativistic precessions of the orbits. These results will place new constraints on possible alternative theories of gravitation, both metric and non-metric in their structure. Furthermore, constraints on the presence of Dark Matter in our Galaxy can be placed by analysing data of the satellites’ atomic clocks.In this framework a fundamental point is obtaining a suitable satellite orbit solution by performing an accurate Precise Orbit Determination (POD). To this purpose modeling, as better as possible, the complex effects of the Non-Gravitational Perturbations (NGPs) is essential. In particular, the direct Solar Radiation Pressure (SRP) represents the main source of error in determining the orbit of any GNSS spacecraft, as it is the largest NGPs perturbation.Our final goal is to build a refined Finite Element Model (FEM) of the Galileo FOC spacecraft to compute the perturbing accelerations that will be used in the POD procedure.As an intermediate step a Box-Wing (BW) model, as well as a 3D-CAD of the spacecraft, have been developed. We will present the results for the perturbing accelerations produced by SRP, Earth’s infrared radiation and Earth’s albedo in the case of a BW model built using the ESA Galileo metadata.Moreover, accounting for multiple reflections and mutual shadowing effects is crucial to improve the POD and the scientific results. To this purpose we apply the so-called Ray Tracing technique to the spacecraft FEM. We will present our ongoing work on this technique by using the software COMSOL and Matlab on the current development we obtained for the FEM.Finally, by using the residuals in the orbital elements obtained from a POD, we can test our new models and the improvements in the quality of the POD. In order to prove the reliability and robustness of the scientific results that will be obtained within G4S_2.0, we aim to exploit both GEODYN II and the Bernese software for the POD.

Published
2023
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2. Measures in Fundamental Physics within the Galileo for Science (G4S_2.0) project using the data of the Galileo Satellite Constellation

Author

Massimo Visco, Alessando Di Marco, Feliciana Sapio, David Lucchesi, Marco Cinelli, Emiliano Fiorenza, Carlo Lefevre, Pasqualino Loffredo, Marco Lucente, Carmelo Magnafico, Roberto Peron, Francesco Santoli, Natalia Gatto, and francesco vespe

Abstract

Within the G4S_2.0 (Galileo for Science) project, funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), two activities in the field of Fundamental Physics are under investigation and development: a new measure of the Gravitational Red Shift (GRS) and a search for possible Dark Matter (DM) candidates in the form of domain walls. Both researches are based on data from high-accuracy clocks aboard the satellites.The GRS measurement exploits the two Galileo satellites DORESA and MILENA injected in 2014 into a wrong orbit characterized by a too high eccentricity. The corrected orbit, still has a relatively high eccentricity (about 0.16) suitable for gravitational measurements. Consequently, the clocks frequency of these two satellites is modulated with the changes of the Earth’s gravitational potential at the height of the satellite.The search for DM matter is done by looking for the expected rapid perturbations in on-board clocks when a structure like a domain wall crosses Earth’s orbit and the Galileo constellation. If this occurs, on-board clocks would have to change their frequency relative to a reference clock on Earth.For both targets, a careful knowledge of the satellite’s position is required, to be obtained with a Precise Orbit Determination (POD) in which the main non gravitational perturbations, such as direct solar radiation pressure, are adequately modeled and accounted for. Furthermore, the clock data needs to be cleaned up by removing long-term drift and fast time jumps unrelated to the effects we want to measure.We will present the preliminary results obtained within these activities.

Published
2023
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3. The Galileo for Science (G4S_2.0) project: Precise Orbit Determination for Fundamental Physics and Space Geodesy

Author

David Lucchesi, Marco Cinelli, Alessandro Di Marco, Emiliano Fiorenza, Carlo Lefevre, Pasqualino Loffredo, Marco Lucente, Carmelo Magnafico, Roberto Peron, Francesco Santoli, Feliciana Sapio, and Massimo Visco

Subjects
Physics::Space Physics, Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Abstract

G4S_2.0 is a project funded by the Italian Space Agency aiming to perform a set of Fundamental Physics measurements using the two Galileo FOC satellites GSAT0201 (Doresa) and GSAT0202 (Milena). Indeed, the orbits of these satellites are characterized by a relatively high eccentricity, about 0.16, which represents a good prerequisite for a series of tests and measurements concerning the predictions of different theories of gravitation, as compared with the General Relativity (GR) ones. The main objectives include a new measurement of the gravitational redshift effect of the on-board atomic clocks --- thanks to its modulation with the orbital period due to the high eccentricity of the orbits --- and the measurement of the main precessions of relativistic origin, primarily the Schwarzschild one.To achieve these significant results, and possibly improve the current constraints of several theories of gravitation with respect to GR, it is of fundamental importance to take a step forward --- compared to the state of the art --- in the reliability of the dynamic model used for the orbits of the satellites and, as a direct consequence of this, in their precise orbit determination (POD). In this context, non-gravitational perturbations (NGPs) are the most subtle and difficult to model because of the complex shape of the Galileo satellites and their attitude law. In this regard, the main challenge is represented by a more refined and reliable model for the direct solar radiation pressure (SRP), the largest NGP on Galileo satellites, as well as on every satellite of every GNSS constellation.Our final goal is to build a finite element model (FEM) of the Galileo FOC spacecraft, as refined as possible, and apply a dedicated raytracing technique to it to compute the perturbing accelerations due to radiation pressure. In view of this, we have already developed a 3D-CAD model of the spacecraft. As an intermediate step, we have built a Box-Wing (BW) model based on the relatively poor information presently available on the geometrical and physical properties of the spacecraft. This BW model has been used to compute the perturbing accelerations due to the direct SRP and to the Earth's albedo and infrared radiation.The results obtained for the accelerations, to be included in the POD process, will be presented in various cases. Then, by computing the residuals in the orbital elements, it will be possible to verify the goodness of the POD results and observe the expected progressive improvement starting from the BW model towards the FEM one. The present analyses were made using the nominal attitude law of the Galileo FOC spacecraft; the application of this law will be discussed in the case of satellites in elliptical orbit. We finally highlight that the results of G4S_2.0 in terms of POD improvements are particularly useful for all applications of the Galileo FOC satellites in the fields of space Geodesy and Geophysics.

Published
2022
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4. CUSP: a two cubesats constellation for Space Weather and solar flares X-ray polarimetry

Author

Sergio Fabiani, Ilaria Baffo, Sergio Bonomo, Gessica Contini, Enrico Costa, Giovanni Cucinella, Giovanni De Cesare, Ettore Del Monte, Andrea Del Re, Sergio Di Cosimo, Simone Di Filippo, Alessandro Di Marco, Pierluigi Fanelli, Fabio La Monaca, Alfredo Locarini, Pasqualino Loffredo, Giovanni Lombardi, Gabriele Minervini, Dario Modenini, Fabio Muleri, Andrea Negri, Massimo Perelli, John Rankin, Alda Rubini, Paolo Soffitta, Eliseo Strollo, Paolo Tortora, and Alessandro Zambardi

Subjects
Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, Physics - Space Physics, FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR), Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
Abstract

The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project aims to develop a constellation of two CubeSats orbiting the Earth to measure the linear polarisation of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter on board of each satellite. CUSP will allow to study the magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the flaring magnetic structures. CUSP is a project approved for a Phase A study by the Italian Space Agency in the framework of the Alcor program aimed to develop CubeSat technologies and missions., Comment: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 17 - 22 July 2022, Montr\'eal, Qu\'ebec, Canada

Published
2022
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5. The Galileo for science project: fundamental physics and technology development for the constellations of Galileo satellites

Author

Sapio, Feliciana, David, Lucchesi, Massimo, Visco, Carlo, Lefevre, Emiliano, Fiorenza, Marco, Cinelli, Alessandro Di Marco, Natalia, Gatto, Pasqualino, Loffredo, Marco, Lucente, Carmelo, Magnafico, Roberto, Peron, and Francesco Santoli and Francesco Vespe

Subjects
galileo for science, non-gravitational perturbations models, laser ranging, fundamental physics, precise orbit determination, galileo constellation
Published
2022

6. Modeling of non-conservative forces for the Galileo-FOC spacecraft

Author

Sapio, Feliciana, David, Lucchesi, Massimo, Visco, Carlo, Lefevre, Marco, Lucente, Marco, Cinelli, Alessandro Di Marco, Emiliano, Fiorenza, Pasqualino, Loffredo, Carmelo, Magnafico, Roberto, Peron, and Francesco, Santoli

Subjects
finite element model, galileo for science, non-gravitational perturbations models, box-wing model, fundamental physics, precise orbit determination, galileo constellation
Published
2022

7. Study of radiation-induced effects on the RIGEL ASIC

Author

Francesco Ceraudo, Irisa Dedolli, Filippo Ambrosino, Pierluigi Bellutti, Giuseppe Bertuccio, Giacomo Borghi, Riccardo Campana, Michele Caselle, Daniela Cirrincione, Ettore Del Monte, Yuri Evangelista, Marco Feroci, Francesco Ficorella, Mauro Fiorini, Fabio Fuschino, Massimo Gandola, Marco Grassi, Claudio Labanti, Pasqualino Loffredo, Giovanni Lombardi, Piero Malcovati, Alfredo Morbidini, Filippo Mele, Raffaele Piazzolla, Antonino Picciotto, Alexandre Rachevski, Irina Rashevskaya, Antonino Tobia, Andrea Vacchi, Angela Volpe, Gianluigi Zampa, Nicola Zampa, and Nicola Zorzi

Subjects
Bit-upsets, Latch-up, X-ray spectroscopy, Radiation effects, Silicon detectors, Low-noise ASIC, Total Ionising Dose
Published
2022

8. Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer: prelaunch

Author

Martin C. Weisskopf, Paolo Soffitta, Luca Baldini, Brian D. Ramsey, Stephen L. O’Dell, Roger W. Romani, Giorgio Matt, William D. Deininger, Wayne H. Baumgartner, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Enrico Costa, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, Luca Latronico, Herman L. Marshall, Fabio Muleri, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Allyn Tennant, Niccolo Bucciantini, Michal Dovciak, Frederic Marin, Alan Marscher, Juri Poutanen, Pat Slane, Roberto Turolla, William Kalinowski, Alessandro Di Marco, Sergio Fabiani, Massimo Minuti, Fabio La Monaca, Michele Pinchera, John Rankin, Carmelo Sgro’, Alessio Trois, Fei Xie, Cheryl Alexander, D. Zachery Allen, Fabrizio Amici, Jason Andersen, Angelo Antonelli, Spencer Antoniak, Primo Attinà, Mattia Barbanera, Matteo Bachetti, Randy M. Baggett, Jeff Bladt, Alessandro Brez, Raffaella Bonino, Christopher Boree, Fabio Borotto, Shawn Breeding, Daniele Brienza, H. Kyle Bygott, Ciro Caporale, Claudia Cardelli, Rita Carpentiero, Simone Castellano, Marco Castronuovo, Luca Cavalli, Elisabetta Cavazzuti, Marco Ceccanti, Mauro Centrone, Saverio Citraro, Fabio D’Amico, Elisa D’Alba, Laura Di Gesu, Ettore Del Monte, Kurtis L. Dietz, Niccolo’ Di Lalla, Giuseppe Di Persio, David Dolan, Immacolata Donnarumma, Yuri Evangelista, Kevin Ferrant, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, MacKenzie Ferrie, Joseph Footdale, Brent Forsyth, Michelle Foster, Benjamin Garelick, Shuichi Gunji, Eli Gurnee, Michael Head, Grant Hibbard, Samantha Johnson, Erik Kelly, Kiranmayee Kilaru, Carlo Lefevre, Shelley Le Roy, Pasqualino Loffredo, Paolo Lorenzi, Leonardo Lucchesi, Tyler Maddox, Guido Magazzu, Simone Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Elio Mangraviti, Marco Marengo, Alessandra Marrocchesi, Francesco Massaro, David Mauger, Jeffrey McCracken, Michael McEachen, Rondal Mize, Paolo Mereu, Scott Mitchell, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Alfredo Morbidini, Federico Mosti, Hikmat Nasimi, Barbara Negri, Michela Negro, Toan Nguyen, Isaac Nitschke, Alessio Nuti, Mitch Onizuka, Chiara Oppedisano, Leonardo Orsini, Darren Osborne, Richard Pacheco, Alessandro Paggi, Will Painter, Steven D. Pavelitz, Christina Pentz, Raffaele Piazzolla, Matteo Perri, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Colin Peterson, Maura Pilia, Alessandro Profeti, Simonetta Puccetti, Jaganathan Ranganathan, Ajay Ratheesh, Lee Reedy, Noah Root, Alda Rubini, Stephanie Ruswick, Javier Sanchez, Paolo Sarra, Francesco Santoli, Emanuele Scalise, Andrea Sciortino, Christopher Schroeder, Tim Seek, Kalie Sosdian, Gloria Spandre, Chet O. Speegle, Toru Tamagawa, Marcello Tardiola, Antonino Tobia, Nicholas E. Thomas, Robert Valerie, Marco Vimercati, Amy L. Walden, Bruce Weddendorf, Jeffrey Wedmore, David Welch, Davide Zanetti, Francesco Zanetti, Weisskopf, M. C., Soffitta, P., Baldini, L., Ramsey, B. D., O'Dell, S. L., Romani, R. W., Matt, G., Deininger, W. D., Baumgartner, W. H., Bellazzini, R., Costa, E., Kolodziejczak, J. J., Latronico, L., Marshall, H. L., Muleri, F., Bongiorno, S. D., Tennant, A., Bucciantini, N., Dovciak, M., Marin, F., Marscher, A., Poutanen, J., Slane, P., Turolla, R., Kalinowski, W., Di Marco, A., Fabiani, S., Minuti, M., La Monaca, F., Pinchera, M., Rankin, J., Sgro', C., Trois, A., Xie, F., Alexander, C., Allen, D. Z., Amici, F., Andersen, J., Antonelli, A., Antoniak, S., Attina, P., Barbanera, M., Bachetti, M., Baggett, R. M., Bladt, J., Brez, A., Bonino, R., Boree, C., Borotto, F., Breeding, S., Brienza, D., Bygott, H. K., Caporale, C., Cardelli, C., Carpentiero, R., Castellano, S., Castronuovo, M., Cavalli, L., Cavazzuti, E., Ceccanti, M., Centrone, M., Citraro, S., D'Amico, F., D'Alba, E., Di Gesu, L., Del Monte, E., Dietz, K. L., Di Lalla, N., Persio, G. D., Dolan, D., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Ferrant, K., Ferrazzoli, R., Ferrie, M., Footdale, J., Forsyth, B., Foster, M., Garelick, B., Gunji, S., Gurnee, E., Head, M., Hibbard, G., Johnson, S., Kelly, E., Kilaru, K., Lefevre, C., Roy, S. L., Loffredo, P., Lorenzi, P., Lucchesi, L., Maddox, T., Magazzu, G., Maldera, S., Manfreda, A., Mangraviti, E., Marengo, M., Marrocchesi, A., Massaro, F., Mauger, D., Mccracken, J., Mceachen, M., Mize, R., Mereu, P., Mitchell, S., Mitsuishi, I., Morbidini, A., Mosti, F., Nasimi, H., Negri, B., Negro, M., Nguyen, T., Nitschke, I., Nuti, A., Onizuka, M., Oppedisano, C., Orsini, L., Osborne, D., Pacheco, R., Paggi, A., Painter, W., Pavelitz, S. D., Pentz, C., Piazzolla, R., Perri, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Peterson, C., Pilia, M., Profeti, A., Puccetti, S., Ranganathan, J., Ratheesh, A., Reedy, L., Root, N., Rubini, A., Ruswick, S., Sanchez, J., Sarra, P., Santoli, F., Scalise, E., Sciortino, A., Schroeder, C., Seek, T., Sosdian, K., Spandre, G., Speegle, C. O., Tamagawa, T., Tardiola, M., Tobia, A., Thomas, N. E., Valerie, R., Vimercati, M., Walden, A. L., Weddendorf, B., Wedmore, J., Welch, D., Zanetti, D., and Zanetti, F.

Subjects
grazing-incidence optic, Space and Planetary Science, Control and Systems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, gas pixel detector, Astronomy and Astrophysics, x-ray polarimetry, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Abstract

Launched on 2021 December 9, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA Small Explorer Mission in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The mission will open a new window of investigation—imaging x-ray polarimetry. The observatory features three identical telescopes, each consisting of a mirror module assembly with a polarization-sensitive imaging x-ray detector at the focus. A coilable boom, deployed on orbit, provides the necessary 4-m focal length. The observatory utilizes a three-axis-stabilized spacecraft, which provides services such as power, attitude determination and control, commanding, and telemetry to the ground. During its 2-year baseline mission, IXPE will conduct precise polarimetry for samples of multiple categories of x-ray sources, with follow-on observations of selected targets.

Published
2022

10. Calibration of the IXPE focal plane X-ray polarimeters to polarized radiation

Author

Alessandro Di Marco, Sergio Fabiani, Fabio La Monaca, Fabio Muleri, John Rankin, Paolo Soffitta, Fei Xie, Fabrizio Amici, Primo attinà, Matteo Bachetti, Luca Baldini, Mattia Barbanera, Wayne Baumgartner, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Fabio Borotto, Alessandro Brez, Daniele Brienza, Ciro Caporale, Claudia Cardelli, Rita Carpentiero, Simone Castellano, Marco Castronuovo, Luca Cavalli, Elisabetta Cavazzuti, Marco Ceccanti, Mauro Centrone, Saverio Citraro, Enrico Costa, Elisa D’Alba, Fabio D’Amico, Ettore Del Monte, Sergio Di Cosimo, Niccolò Di Lalla, Giuseppe Di Persio, Immacolata Donnarumma, Yuri Evangelista, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Luca Latronico, Carlo Lefevre, Pasqualino Loffredo, Paolo Lorenzi, Leonardo Lucchesi, Carlo Magazzù, Guido Magazzù, Simone Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Elio Mangraviti, Marco Marengo, Giorgio Matt, Paolo Mereu, Massimo Minuti, Alfredo Morbidini, Federico Mosti, Hikmat Nasimi, Barbara Negri, Alessio Nuti, Stephen L. O’Dell, Leonardo Orsini, Matteo Perri, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Raffaele Piazzolla, Stefano Pieraccini, Maura Pilia, Michele Pinchera, Alessandro Profeti, Simonetta Puccetti, Brian D. Ramsey, Ajay Ratheesh, Alda Rubini, Francesco Santoli, Paolo Sarra, Emanuele Scalise, Andrea Sciortino, Carmelo Sgrò, Gloria Spandre, Marcello Tardiola, Allyn F. Tennant, Antonino Tobia, Alessio Trois, Marco Vimercati, Martin C. Weisskopf, Davide Zanetti, and Francesco Zanetti

Subjects
Space and Planetary Science, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Abstract

IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) is a NASA Small Explorer mission -- in partnership with the Italian Space Agency (ASI) -- dedicated to X-ray polarimetry in the 2--8 keV energy band. The IXPE telescope comprises three grazing incidence mirror modules coupled to three detector units hosting each one a Gas Pixel Detector (GPD), a gas detector that allows measuring the polarization degree by using the photoelectric effect. A wide and accurate ground calibration was carried out on the IXPE Detector Units (DUs) at INAF-IAPS, in Italy, where a dedicated facility was set-up at this aim. In this paper, we present the results obtained from this calibration campaign to study the IXPE focal plane detector response to polarized radiation. In particular, we report on the modulation factor, which is the main parameter to estimate the sensitivity of a polarimeter., Comment: Accepted for publication on The Astronomical Journal

Published
2022
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11. The Galileo for science (G4S_2.0) project: non-gravitational perturbations models and precise orbit determination with SLR data

Author

Sapio, Feliciana, David, Lucchesi, Massimo, Visco, Carlo, Lefevre, Marco, Lucente, Roberto, Peron, Marco, Cinelli, Alessandro Di Marco, Emiliano, Fiorenza, Pasqualino, Loffredo, Carmelo, Magnafico, and Francesco, Santoli

Subjects
galileo for science, non-gravitational perturbations models, fundamental physics, galileo constellation, precise orbit determination
Published
2022

12. PixDD: a multi-pixel silicon drift detector for high-throughput spectral-timing studies

Author

Francesco Ceraudo, Filippo Ambrosino, Pierluigi Bellutti, Giuseppe Bertuccio, Giacomo Borghi, Riccardo Campana, Michele Caselle, Daniela Cirrincione, Irisa Dedolli, Ettore Del Monte, Yuri Evangelista, Marco Feroci, Francesco Ficorella, Mauro Fiorini, Fabio Fuschino, Massimo Gandola, Marco Grassi, Claudio Labanti, Pasqualino Loffredo, Giovanni Lombardi, Piero Malcovati, Filippo Mele, Alfredo Morbidini, Raffaele Piazzolla, Antonino Picciotto, Alexandre Rachevski, Irina Rashevskaya, Antonino Tobia, Andrea Vacchi, Angela Volpe, Gianluigi Zampa, Nicola Zampa, and Nicola Zorzi

Subjects
Time-resolved spectroscopy, Single-photon detectors, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, X-ray timing, X-ray spectroscopy, Silicon Drift Detectors, ddc:620, Engineering & allied operations
Abstract

The Pixelated silicon Drift Detector (PixDD) is a two-dimensional multi-pixel X-ray sensor based on the technology of Silicon Drift Detectors, designed to solve the dead time and pile-up issues of photon-integrating imaging detectors. Read out by a two-dimensional self-triggering Application-Specific Integrated Circuit named RIGEL, to which the sensor is bump-bonded, it operates in the 0:5 — 15 keV energy range and is designed to achieve single-photon sensitivity and good spectroscopic capabilities even at room temperature or with mild cooling (< 150 eV resolution at 6 keV at 0 °C). The paper reports on the design and performance tests of the 128-pixel prototype of the fully integrated system.

Published
2022
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13. Calibration of the IXPE instrument

Author

Paolo Soffitta, Francesco Santoli, Primo Attinà, Alessio Trois, A. Tortosa, Fabrizio Amici, Leandra Primicino, Mauro Centrone, Francesco Maita, Ettore Del Monte, Antonino Tobia, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Carlo Lefevre, Y. Evangelista, Fabio Muleri, Alda Rubini, Alfredo Morbidini, Luca Maiolo, Raffaele Piazzolla, Sergio Fabiani, Sergio Di Cosimo, Giuseppe Di Persio, John Rankin, Pasqualino Loffredo, and ITA

Subjects
Physics, Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, Spacecraft, business.industry, Payload, Detector, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, FOS: Physical sciences, Polarimeter, calibration, Polarization (waves), 01 natural sciences, 010309 optics, Cardinal point, Optics, Filter (video), 0103 physical sciences, Calibration, in-flight, on-ground, business, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Abstract

IXPE scientific payload comprises of three telescopes, each composed of a mirror and a photoelectric polarimeter based on the Gas Pixel Detector design. The three focal plane detectors, together with the unit which interfaces them to the spacecraft, are named IXPE Instrument and they will be built and calibrated in Italy; in this proceeding, we will present how IXPE Instrument will be calibrated, both on-ground and in-flight. The Instrument Calibration Equipment is being finalized at INAF-IAPS in Rome (Italy) to produce both polarized and unpolarized radiation, with a precise knowledge of direction, position, energy and polarization state of the incident beam. In flight, a set of four calibration sources based on radioactive material and mounted on a filter and calibration wheel will allow for the periodic calibration of all of the three IXPE focal plane detectors independently. A highly polarized source and an unpolarized one will be used to monitor the response to polarization; the remaining two will be used to calibrate the gain through the entire lifetime of the mission., 11 pages, 8 figures

Published
2021

14. The Instrument of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Author

Leonardo Lucchesi, S. Nenonen, Alessandro Brez, Simonetta Puccetti, Luca Latronico, Hans Andersson, Mattia Barbanera, Ciro Caporale, Leonardo Orsini, Luca Baldini, Michele Pinchera, Alessandro Profeti, Federico Mosti, Alessandro Di Marco, M. Perri, M. Ceccanti, Ettore Del Monte, Ajay Ratheesh, Claudia Cardelli, Elisa D'Alba, Antonino Tobia, Paolo Lorenzi, Niccolò Di Lalla, Maura Pilia, Elio Mangraviti, Rita Carpentiero, E. Scalise, Barbara Negri, Daniele Brienza, Matteo Bachetti, Alfredo Morbidini, Carlo Magazzu, Toru Tamagawa, Alessio Trois, Carmelo Sgrò, Fei Xie, Pasqualino Loffredo, Giuseppe Di Persio, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Sergio Di Cosimo, S. Castellano, John Rankin, Massimo Minuti, Primo Attinà, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Marco Castronuovo, Marco Marengo, Francesco Santoli, Luca Cavalli, Saverio Citraro, Takao Kitaguchi, Fabrizio Amici, Paolo Mereu, Toshio Nakano, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, Paolo Soffitta, Mauro Centrone, Alberto Manfreda, Asami Hayato, Fabio D'Amico, E. Cavazzuti, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Gloria Spandre, Enrico Costa, Stefano Ciprini, Raffaele Piazzolla, Giorgio Matt, Fabio La Monaca, Alda Rubini, Marcello Tardiola, Alessio Nuti, Marco Vimercati, Sergio Fabiani, Fabio Borotto, S. Maldera, Andrea Sciortino, Carlo Lefevre, Fabio Muleri, Paolo Sarra, Hikmat Nasimi, Soffitta, P., Baldini, L., Bellazzini, R., Costa, E., Latronico, L., Muleri, F., Del Monte, E., Fabiani, S., Minuti, M., Pinchera, M., Sgro', C., Spandre, G., Trois, A., Amici, F., Andersson, H., Attina', P., Bachetti, M., Barbanera, M., Borotto, F., Brez, A., Brienza, D., Caporale, C., Cardelli, C., Carpentiero, R., Castellano, S., Castronuovo, M., Cavalli, L., Cavazzuti, E., Ceccanti, M., Centrone, M., Ciprini, S., Citraro, S., D'Amico, F., D'Alba, E., Di Cosimo, S., Di Lalla, N., Di Marco, A., Di Persio, G., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Ferrazzoli, R., Hayato, A., Kitaguchi, T., La Monaca, F., Lefevre, C., Loffredo, P., Lorenzi, P., Lucchesi, L., Magazzu, C., Maldera, S., Manfreda, A., Mangraviti, E., Marengo, M., Matt, G., Mereu, P., Morbidini, A., Mosti, F., Nakano, T., Nasimi, H., Negri, B., Nenonen, S., Nuti, A., Orsini, L., Perri, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piazzolla, R., Pilia, M., Profeti, A., Puccetti, S., Rankin, J., Ratheesh, A., Rubini, A., Santoli, F., Sarra, P., Scalise, E., Sciortino, A., Tamagawa, T., Tardiola, M., Tobia, A., Vimercati, M., and Xie, F.

Subjects
Physics, X-ray astronomy, business.industry, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, X-ray, Polarimetry, X-ray detector, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Optics, Space and Planetary Science, X-ray, Polarimetry — Instrumentation, business, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Abstract

While X-ray Spectroscopy, Timing and Imaging have improved verymuch since 1962, when the first astronomical non-solar source was discovered, especially with the launch of Newton/X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission, Rossi/X-ray Timing Explorer and Chandra/Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, the progress of X-ray polarimetry has been meager. This is in part due to the lack of sensitive polarization detectors, in part due to the fate of approved missions and in part because the celestial X-ray sources appeared less polarized than expected. Only one positive measurement has been available until now. Indeed the eight Orbiting Solar Observatory measured the polarization of the Crab nebula in the 70s. The advent of techniques of microelectronics allowed for designing a detector based on the photoelectric effect in gas in an energy range where the optics are efficient in focusing X-rays. Herewe describe the Instrument, which is the major contribution of the Italian collaboration to the SmallExplorer mission called IXPE, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, which will be flown in late 2021. The instrument, is composed of three Detector Units, based on this technique, and a Detector Service Unit. Three Mirror Modules provided by Marshall Space Flight Center focus X-rays onto the detectors. In the following we will show the technological choices, their scientific motivation and the results from the calibration of the Instrument. IXPE will perform imaging, timing and energy resolved polarimetry in the 2-8 keV energy band opening this window of X-ray astronomy to tens of celestial sources of almost all classes., 25 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables (accepted for publication in Astronomical Journal)

Published
2021

15. IXPE DU-FM ions-UV filters characterization

Author

Francesco Santoli, Sergio Fabiani, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Y. Evangelista, Pasqualino Loffredo, John Rankin, Fabio La Monaca, Fabrizio Amici, Alessandro Di Marco, Fabio Muleri, Raffaele Piazzolla, Sergio Di Cosimo, Paolo Soffitta, Ben Zeiger, Alessio Trois, Carlo Lefevre, Ajay Ratheesh, Primo Attina, Alfredo Morbidini, E. Scalise, Alda Rubini, Fei Xie, Enrico Costa, Daniele Brienza, Giuseppe Di Persio, Antonino Tobia, ITA, and USA

Subjects
Physics, X-Ray polarimetry, business.industry, Detector, X-ray, Polarimetry, Polarimeter, Collimator, law.invention, Optics, Filter (video), law, GPD, Calibration, X-Ray, IXPE, Monochromatic color, business, IXPE, X-Ray, X-Ray polarimetry, ions-UV filter, GPD, ions-UV filter
Abstract

IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) is a NASA SMEX in a partnership with ASI. The focal plane Detector Units (DUs) and the Detector Service Unit (DSU) were developed by the Italian research Institutes INAF-IAPS and INFN and were manufactured by OHB-I. IXPE will investigate X-ray polarimetry in the 2-8 keV energy band. The payload comprises three identical telescopes, each composed of a mirror and a detector unit with an X-ray polarimeter based on the Gas Pixel Detector (GPD). A stray-light collimator (SLC) is mounted on the top of the DU to shield the GPD from background X-rays not coming from the optics. At the bottom of the SLC, an ions-UV filter is mounted to reduce the thermal load and to prevent ions and UV from entering the DU. The ions-UV filters consist mainly of 1 um LUXFilm (based on polyimide). During on-ground calibration activities of the IXPE DUs, X-ray transparency of DU-FM ions-UV filters was measured with monochromatic X-ray at 2.7 keV and 6.4 keV at INAF-IAPS.

Published
2021

16. Design, construction, and test of the Gas Pixel Detectors for the IXPE mission

Author

Carlo Magazzu, E. Del Monte, Paolo Sarra, Alessandro Brez, Alessandra Marrocchesi, Elisa D'Alba, A. Rubini, Rita Carpentiero, Takao Kitaguchi, Luca Cavalli, Guido Magazzu, John Rankin, Alfredo Morbidini, S. Nenonen, E. Cavazzuti, Fabio Borotto, C. Oppedisano, Marco Marengo, Gloria Spandre, Federico Mosti, Francesco Zanetti, Primo Attina, Sergio Fabiani, E. Scalise, Barbara Negri, Michele Pinchera, Francesco Santoli, Simonetta Puccetti, Ciro Caporale, F. La Monaca, Saverio Citraro, R. Bonino, Fabrizio Amici, Fei Xie, F. Muleri, Paolo Lorenzi, Luca Latronico, Leonardo Orsini, Marcello Tardiola, Antonino Tobia, Matteo Bachetti, Mauro Centrone, Allyn F. Tennant, Alessandro Profeti, Claudia Cardelli, Alberto Manfreda, S. Di Cosimo, P. Soffitta, Daniele Brienza, Raffaele Piazzolla, Wayne H. Baumgartner, S. Maldera, Andrea Sciortino, M. Perri, Carlo Lefevre, Ajay Ratheesh, Steve O'Dell, N. Di Lalla, Luca Baldini, Maura Pilia, Elio Mangraviti, Marco Castronuovo, Alessio Trois, Fabio D'Amico, Alessio Nuti, Paolo Mereu, A. Di Marco, K. Uchiyama, Leonardo Lucchesi, D. Zanetti, Giorgio Matt, Enrico Costa, Martin C. Weisskopf, Y. Zhou, Toshio Nakano, Marco Vimercati, S. Pieraccini, Ronaldo Bellazzini, R. Ferrazzoli, T. Meilahti, Toru Tamagawa, Pasqualino Loffredo, Massimo Minuti, G. Di Persio, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Carmelo Sgrò, S. Castellano, Hikmat Nasimi, Hans Andersson, Brian D. Ramsey, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Ceccanti, M. Barbanera, Baldini, L., Barbanera, M., Bellazzini, R., Bonino, R., Borotto, F., Brez, A., Caporale, C., Cardelli, C., Castellano, S., Ceccanti, M., Citraro, S., Di Lalla, N., Latronico, L., Lucchesi, L., Magazzu, C., Magazzu, G., Maldera, S., Manfreda, A., Marengo, M., Marrocchesi, A., Mereu, P., Minuti, M., Mosti, F., Nasimi, H., Nuti, A., Oppedisano, C., Orsini, L., Pesce-Rollins, M., Pinchera, M., Profeti, A., Sgro, C., Spandre, G., Tardiola, M., Zanetti, D., Amici, F., Andersson, H., Attina, P., Bachetti, M., Baumgartner, W., Brienza, D., Carpentiero, R., Castronuovo, M., Cavalli, L., Cavazzuti, E., Centrone, M., Costa, E., D'Alba, E., D'Amico, F., Del Monte, E., Di Cosimo, S., Di Marco, A., Di Persio, G., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Fabiani, S., Ferrazzoli, R., Kitaguchi, T., La Monaca, F., Lefevre, C., Loffredo, P., Lorenzi, P., Mangraviti, E., Matt, G., Meilahti, T., Morbidini, A., Muleri, F., Nakano, T., Negri, B., Nenonen, S., O'Dell, S. L., Perri, M., Piazzolla, R., Pieraccini, S., Pilia, M., Puccetti, S., Ramsey, B. D., Rankin, J., Ratheesh, A., Rubini, A., Santoli, F., Sarra, P., Scalise, E., Sciortino, A., Soffitta, P., Tamagawa, T., Tennant, A. F., Tobia, A., Trois, A., Uchiyama, K., Vimercati, M., Weisskopf, M. C., Xie, F., Zanetti, F., and Zhou, Y.

Subjects
Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, Pixel, Emphasis (telecommunications), Detector, Gas detectors, X-ray polarimetry, Polarimetry, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det), Dead time, X-ray polarimetry Gas detectors, Noise (electronics), Cardinal point, Application-specific integrated circuit, Gas detector, Electronic engineering, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Abstract

Due to be launched in late 2021, the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA Small Explorer mission designed to perform polarization measurements in the 2-8 keV band, complemented with imaging, spectroscopy and timing capabilities. At the heart of the focal plane is a set of three polarization-sensitive Gas Pixel Detectors (GPD), each based on a custom ASIC acting as a charge-collecting anode. In this paper we shall review the design, manufacturing, and test of the IXPE focal-plane detectors, with particular emphasis on the connection between the science drivers, the performance metrics and the operational aspects. We shall present a thorough characterization of the GPDs in terms of effective noise, trigger efficiency, dead time, uniformity of response, and spectral and polarimetric performance. In addition, we shall discuss in detail a number of instrumental effects that are relevant for high-level science analysis -- particularly as far as the response to unpolarized radiation and the stability in time are concerned., Comment: To be published in Astroparticle Physics

Published
2021

17. The IXPE Instrument Calibration Equipment

Author

Maura Pilia, Pasqualino Loffredo, Alessio Trois, Paolo Soffitta, Ettore Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, Carlo Lefevre, Alessandro Di Marco, Sergio Di Cosimo, Alfredo Morbidini, Matteo Bachetti, Sergio Fabiani, Enrico Costa, Alda Rubini, Primo Attina, E. Scalise, Antonino Tobia, Fabrizio Amici, Francesco Santoli, M. Perri, Fei Xie, Fabio Muleri, Mauro Centrone, Giuseppe Di Persio, Simonetta Puccetti, Ajay Ratheesh, R. Ferrazzoli, John Rankin, Daniele Brienza, Raffaele Piazzolla, and Fabio La Monaca

Subjects
Physics, Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, Payload, Detector, Polarimetry, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, X-rays Polarimetry Calibration Space missions, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det), Polarization (waves), Space exploration, Cardinal point, Calibration, Sensitivity (control systems), Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), Remote sensing
Abstract

The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer is a mission dedicated to the measurement of X-ray polarization from tens of astrophysical sources belonging to different classes. Expected to be launched at the end of 2021, the payload comprises three mirrors and three focal plane imaging polarimeters, the latter being designed and built in Italy. While calibration is always an essential phase in the development of high-energy space missions, for IXPE it has been particularly extensive both to calibrate the response to polarization, which is peculiar to IXPE, and to achieve a statistical uncertainty below the expected sensitivity. In this paper we present the calibration equipment that was designed and built at INAF-IAPS in Rome, Italy, for the calibration of the polarization-sensitive focal plane detectors on-board IXPE. Equipment includes calibration sources, both polarized and unpolarized, stages to align and move the beam, test detectors and their mechanical assembly. While all these equipments were designed to fit the specific needs of the IXPE Instrument calibration, their versatility could also be used in the future for other projects., Comment: 17 pages, 25 figures

Published
2021
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18. In-flight calibration system of Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Author

John Rankin, Paolo Soffitta, Carlo Lefevre, Raffaele Piazzolla, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Brian D. Ramsey, Ajay Ratheesh, Enrico Costa, Francesco Maita, Fei Xie, I. Donnarumma, Fabio La Monaca, Alda Rubini, Antonino Tobia, Sergio Fabiani, Daniele Brienza, Fabio Muleri, Paolo Sarra, Pasqualino Loffredo, Luca Maiolo, Alfredo Morbidini, Giuseppe Di Persio, Fabrizio Amici, Alessandro Di Marco, and Ettore Del Monte

Subjects
Photon, Astronomy, Instrumentation, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Polarimetry, FOS: Physical sciences, 01 natural sciences, 010309 optics, Optics, 0103 physical sciences, Calibration, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), polarimetry, Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Spacecraft, Interaction point, business.industry, radioactive sources, Mechanical Engineering, Detector, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, calibration, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Space and Planetary Science, Control and Systems Engineering, X-Ray, Satellite, business, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astronomy, instrumentation
Abstract

The NASA/ASI Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, which will be launched in 2021, will be the first instrument to perform spatially resolved X-ray polarimetry on several astronomical sources in the 2-8 keV energy band. These measurements are made possible owing to the use of a gas pixel detector (GPD) at the focus of three X-ray telescopes. The GPD allows simultaneous measurements of the interaction point, energy, arrival time, and polarization angle of detected X-ray photons. The increase in sensitivity, achieved 40 years ago, for imaging and spectroscopy with the Einstein satellite will thus be extended to X-ray polarimetry for the first time. The characteristics of gas multiplication detectors are subject to changes over time. Because the GPD is a novel instrument, it is particularly important to verify its performance and stability during its mission lifetime. For this purpose, the spacecraft hosts a filter and calibration set (FCS), which includes both polarized and unpolarized calibration sources for performing in-flight calibration of the instruments. In this study, we present the design of the flight models of the FCS and the first measurements obtained using silicon drift detectors and CCD cameras, as well as those obtained in thermal vacuum with the flight units of the GPD. We show that the calibration sources successfully assess and verify the functionality of the GPD and validate its scientific results in orbit; this improves our knowledge of the behavior of these detectors in X-ray polarimetry., Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures, published on Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems

Published
2020
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19. The Imaging X-ray polarimetry explorer (IXPE): Technical overview III

Author

Paolo Soffitta, Primo Attina', Luca Baldini, Mattia Barbanera, Wayne H. Baumgartner, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Jeff Bladt, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Alessandro Brez, Simone Castellano, Rita Carpentiero, Marco Castronuovo, Luca Cavalli, Elisabetta Cavazzuti, Fabio D' Amico, Saverio Citraro, Enrico Costa, William D. Deininger, ELisa D' Alba, Ettore Del Monte, Kutis L. Diets, Niccolo' Di Lalla, Alessandro Di Marco, Guseppe Di Persio, Immacolata Donnarumma, Ronald F. Elsner, Sergio Fabiani, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Larry Guy, William Kalinowski, Jeffery Kolodziejczak, Luca Latronico, Carlo Lefevre, Paolo Lorenzi, Leonardo Lucchesi, Simone Maldera, Alberto Manfreda, Elio Mangraviti, Herman L. Marshall, James Masciarelli, Giorgio Matt, Massimo Minuti, Fabio Muleri, Hikmat Nasimi, Barbara Negri, Alessio Nuti, Leonardo Orsini, Darren Osborne, Maura Pilia, Matteo Perri, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Colin Peterson, Michele Pinchera, Simonetta Puccetti, Brian Ramsey, Ajay Ratheesh, Roger W. Romani, Paolo Sarra, Francesco Santoli, Andrea Sciortino, Carmelo Sgro', Brian T. Smith, Gloria Spandre, Allyn F. Tennant, Antonino Tobia, Alessio Trois, Marco Vimercati, Jeffrey Wedmnore, Martin C. Weisskopf, Fei Xie, Francesco Zanetti, Cheryl Alexander, D. Zachery Allen, Fabrizio Amici, L. Angelo Antonelli, Spencer Antoniak, Matteo Bachetti, Raffaella Bonino, Fabio Borotto, Shawn Breeding, Daniele Brienza, H. Kyle Bygott, Claudia Cardelli, Marco Ceccanti, Mauro Centrone, Yuri Evangelista, MacKenzie Ferrie, Brent Forsyth, Michele Foster, Eli Gurnee, Grant Hibbard, Sandra R. Johnson, Erik Kelly, Kiranmayee Kilaru, Fabio La Monaca, Shelley Le Roy, Pasqualino Loffredo, Guido Magazzu', Marco Marengo, Alessandra Marrocchesi, Francesco Massaro, Alfredo Morbidini, Jeffrey McCracken, Michael McEachen, Paolo Mereu, Scott Mitchell, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Federico Mosti, Michela Nigro, Chiara Oppedisano, Richard Pacheco, alessandro Paggi, Steven D. Pavelitz, Cristina Pentz, Raffaele Piazzolla, Brad Porter, Alessandro Profeti, Jaganathan Ranganathan, John Rankin, Noah Root, Alda Rubini, Stephanie Ruswick, Javier Sanchez, Emanuele Scalise, Sara Schindhelm, Chet O. Speegle, Toru Tamagawa, Marcello Tardiola, Amy L. Walden, Bruce Weddendorf, David Welch, Michael Head, Stuart Gray, Rondal Mize, Stephen L. O'Dell, Christopher Schroeder, Nicholas E. Thomas, Randy M. Bagget, David Dolan, Kevin Ferrant, Joseph Footdale, Benjamin Garelick, Samantha Johnson, and Timothy Seek

Subjects
Physics, X-ray, Optics, business.industry, X-ray, Polarimetry, Astrophysics, Optics, Gas Pixel Detector, Polarimetry, business, Astrophysics, Gas Pixel Detector
Published
2020

20. The Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE): technical overview II

Author

M. Negro, Roger W. Romani, Luca Baldini, Giorgio Matt, Colin Peterson, Fabio La Monaca, Christina Pentz, Paolo Soffitta, Alessandro Paggi, Brent Forsyth, Francesco Zanetti, Sergio Fabiani, Martin C. Weisskopf, D. Zachery Allen, James Masciarelli, Jeffery McCracken, Eli Gurnee, Toru Tamagawa, Michele Pinchera, Pasqualino Loffredo, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Brian T. Smith, Carmelo Sgrò, Noah Root, Steven D. Pavelitz, Scott C. Mitchell, Mattia Barbanera, Antonino Tobia, Richard Pacheco, Leonardo Lucchesi, Massimo Minuti, Stephen L. O'Dell, Javier Sánchez, Chet O. Speegle, Shelley Le Roy, Paolo Mereu, Bruce Weddendorf, Herman L. Marshall, Alessio Nuti, Ajay Ratheesh, Hikmat Nasimi, MacKenzie Ferrie, Anthony R. Kelley, C. Oppedisano, E. Cavazzuti, Fabio Borotto, Niccolò Di Lalla, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Enrico Costa, Ronaldo Bellazzini, H. Kyle Bygott, Allyn F. Tennant, John Rankin, Raffaele Piazzola, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Daniele Brienza, Cheryl Alexander, Primo Attina, Brian D. Ramsey, E. Scalise, Gloria Spandre, Shawn Breeding, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, Giuseppe Di Persio, Fei Xie, Kurtis L. Dietz, Alda Rubini, Federico Mosti, Simonetta Puccetti, Marcello Tardiola, Leonardo Orsini, Fabrizio Amici, Kiranmayee Kilaru, L. Guy, Andrea Sciortino, Jaganathan Ranganathan, Carlo Lefevre, Fabio Muleri, Raffaella Bonino, Alessio Trois, Darren Osborne, Victoria M. Kaspi, Michael McEachen, Shuichi Gunji, M. Perri, Ettore Del Monte, Ronald F. Elsner, Alfredo Morbidini, Marco Marengo, William Kalinowski, Alessandro Brez, Alessandra Marrocchesi, Francesco Santoli, Saverio Citraro, Michelle Foster, Mauro Centrone, Alberto Manfreda, Grant Hibbard, Amy L. Walden, Jeff Bladt, Luca Latronico, Jeffrey Wedmore, Claudia Cardelli, Alessandro Profeti, Ciro Caporale, M. Ceccanti, Francesco Massaro, Brad Porter, Jeffrey Kolodziejczak, Joseph Footdale, Guido Magazzu, Sandra R. Johnson, Eric Kelly, William D. Deininger, David Welch, W. H. Baumgartner, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, Spencer Antoniak, Sarah Schindhelm, Stephanie Ruswick, ITA, USA, and JPN

Subjects
010302 applied physics, Physics, X-ray astronomy, Spacecraft, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, business.industry, gas pixel detectors, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Detector, grazing-incidence optics, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Polarimetry, Polarization (waves), 01 natural sciences, IXPE, GPD, X-ray polarimetry, imaging, missions, polarimetry, Observatory, Attitude determination, 0103 physical sciences, Aerospace engineering, business
Abstract

SPIE grants to authors (and their employers) of papers, posters, and presentation recordings published in SPIE Proceedings or SPIE Journals on the SPIE Digital Library (hereinafter "publications") the right to post an author-prepared version or an official version (preferred version) of the publication on an internal or external server controlled exclusively by the author/employer or the entity funding the research, provided that (a) such posting is noncommercial in nature and the publication is made available to users without charge; (b) an appropriate copyright notice and citation appear with the publication; and (c) a link to SPIE's official online version of the publication is provided using the item's DOI. This authorization does not extend to third-party web sites not owned and maintained by the author/employer such as ResearchGate, Academia.edu, YouTube, etc. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) will add polarization to the properties (time, energy, and position) observed in x-ray astronomy. A NASA Astrophysics Small Explorer (SMEX) in partnership with the Italian Space Agency (ASI), IXPE will measure the 2-8-keV polarization of a few dozen sources during the first 2 years following its 2021 launch. The IXPE Observatory includes three identical x-ray telescopes, each comprising a 4-m-focal-length (grazingincidence) mirror module assembly (MMA) and a polarization-sensitive (imaging) detector unit (DU), separated by a deployable optical bench. The Observatory's Spacecraft provides typical subsystems (mechanical, structural, thermal, power, electrical, telecommunications, etc.), an attitude determination and control subsystem for 3-axis stabilized pointing, and a command and data handling subsystem communicating with the science instrument and the Spacecraft subsystems.

21. Outcomes of the IXPE instrument calibration

Author

Hikmat Nasimi, John Rankin, Sergio Di Cosimo, Leonardo Lucchesi, Fabio La Monaca, Michele Pinchera, Francesco Santoli, Saverio Citraro, Mattia Barbanera, Alessio Nuti, Fei Xie, Antonino Tobia, Paolo Soffitta, Primo Attina, E. Scalise, Alberto Manfreda, Luca Baldini, Ettore Del Monte, Raffaele Piazzolla, Alda Rubini, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Pasqualino Loffredo, Alessandro Di Marco, Alfredo Morbidini, Sergio Fabiani, Ajay Ratheesh, Carmelo Sgrò, Massimo Minuti, Y. Evangelista, S. Castellano, Enrico Costa, Carlo Lefevre, Fabio Muleri, Alessio Trois, Fabrizio Amici, Daniele Brienza, Giuseppe Di Persio, and Leonardo Orsini

Subjects
Physics, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, Linear polarization, business.industry, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Detector, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Measure (physics), Polarimetry, Polarimeter, Photoelectric effect, calibration, IXPE, X-ray polarimetry, calibration, Gas Pixel Detector, GPD, law.invention, Telescope, Optics, law, GPD, Calibration, X-ray polarimetry, IXPE, business, Gas Pixel Detector
Abstract

IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) is the next Nasa Small Explorer mission foreseen for the lunch in 2021. It is a partnership with the Italian Space Agency (ASI). IXPE is devoted to X-ray polarimetry in the 2-8 keV energy band. The IXPE telescope comprises three grazing incidence mirror modules coupled to three detector units hosting each one a Gas Pixel Detector (GPD) polarimeter. The GPD exploits the photoelectric effect to measure the linear polarization of the X-ray emission from astrophysical sources. A wide and accurate on ground calibration was carried out on the IXPE detector units at INAF-IAPS in Italy. A dedicated facility was set-up to calibrate the detector units with polarized and unpolarised X-rays at different energies before Instrument integration.

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