ART-XC

The Astronomical Roentgen Telescope X-ray Concentrator (ART-XC) is an X-ray telescope with a grazing incidence mirror that is capable of capturing high energy X-ray photons within the 5-30 keV energy range. This telescope is one of the two X-ray telescopes on the Spektr-RG (SRG) mission. The other telescope that SRG carries is eROSITA. The observatory was launched on 13 July 2019 via a Proton rocket from the Russian launch site Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

ART-XC
(Astronomical Roentgen Telescope X-ray Concentrator)
Mission typeSpace observatory
Operator Russia, Russian Space Research Institute
 Germany, German Aerospace Center
Mission duration≈ 7 years; until late 2026 to early 2027 (planned)
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSpektr-RG
ManufacturerRussian Space Research Institute and All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Physics
Start of mission
Launch date13 July 2019, 12:31 UTC
RocketProton-M
Launch siteBaikonur 45/1
Orbital parameters
Reference systemSecond Lagrange point (L2)
Main
NameART-XC
TypeWolter-I
WavelengthsX-rays
 

Overview

ART-XC was developed by the Space Research Institute (IKI) and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Physics (VNIIEF). The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed and fabricated flight models of the X-ray mirror systems.[1][2] The ART-XC telescope consists of 7 identical mirror modules each made with 28 nickel-cobalt grazing-incidence mirrors. The mirror design is Wolter-I and is coated with iridium. Each module also has its own cadmium-tellurium double-sided strip detector. The typical on-axis half-power diameter of ART-XC is 27 to 34 arcsec, while the effective area of each module is 65 cm2 (both were estimated at 8 keV). The field of view for each module is about 36′ in diameter.

ART-XC will survey the entire sky every six months, and the planned all-sky survey will be completed in the first four years of the mission.[3][4][5]

First light

Roscosmos published the first light image of ART-XC, which was taken on July 30, 2019. The image shows the source Centaurus X-3 imaged with the 7 telescopes, as well as the light curve of the pulsar folded at its pulse period of 4.8s.[6]

Instruments
Instruments on the Spektr-RG observatory
eROSITA[7]ART-XC
OrganisationMax Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial PhysicsIKI / VNIIEF
Telescope typeWolterWolter
WavelengthX-rayX-ray
Mass810 kg350 kg
Sensitivity range0.3 - 10 keV6 - 30 keV
View angle1 degree30 arcminutes
Angular resolution15 arcseconds45 arcseconds
Sensor area2,400 cm2/ 1 keV450 cm2/ 8 keV

References
  1. "ART-XC homepage".
  2. "MSFC ART-XC page".
  3. Pavlinsky, M.; Levin, V.; Akimov, V.; Krivchenko, A.; Rotin, A.; Kuznetsova, M.; Lapshov, I.; Tkachenko, A.; Krivonos, R.; Semena, N.; Buntov, M.; Glushenko, A.; Arefiev, V.; Yaskovich, A.; Grebenev, S.; Sazonov, S.; Lutovinov, A.; Molkov, S.; Serbinov, D.; Kudelin, M.; Drozdova, T.; Voronkov, S.; Sunyaev, R.; Churazov, E.; Gilfanov, M.; Ramsey, B.; O'Dell, S. L.; Kolodziejczak, J.; Zavlin, V.; Swartz, D. (1 July 2018). "ART-XC / SRG overview". Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. 10699: 106991Y. Bibcode:2018SPIE10699E..1YP. doi:10.1117/12.2312053. ISBN 9781510619517.
  4. Krivonos, R.; Tkachenko, A.; Burenin, R.; Filippova, E.; Lapshov, I.; Mereminskiy, I.; Molkov, S.; Pavlinsky, M.; Sazonov, S.; Gubarev, M.; Kolodziejczak, J.; O'Dell, S. L.; Swartz, D.; Zavlin, Vyacheslav E.; Ramsey, B. D. (October 2017). "Calibration of the ART-XC mirror modules at MSFC". Experimental Astronomy. 44 (1): 147–164. arXiv:1708.09783. Bibcode:2017ExA....44..147K. doi:10.1007/s10686-017-9555-0.
  5. Mereminskiy, I. A.; Filippova, E. V.; Burenin, R. A.; Sazonov, S. Yu.; Pavlinsky, M. N.; Tkachenko, A. Yu.; Lapshov, I. Yu.; Shtykovskiy, A. E.; Krivonos, R. A. (1 February 2018). "A Deep Extragalactic Survey with the ART-XC Telescope of the Spectrum-RG Observatory: Simulations and Expected Results". Astronomy Letters. 44 (2): 67–80. Bibcode:2018AstL...44...67M. doi:10.1134/S1063773718020044.
  6. "Новости. Первый свет обсерватории «Спектр-РГ»". www.roscosmos.ru. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
  7. eROSITA Technical Performance. Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. Accessed on 14 June 2019.
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