Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1780419 | New Astronomy Reviews | 2006 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
The new cosmological frontier will be the study of the very first stars, galaxies and black holes in the early Universe. These objects are invisible to the current generation of X-ray telescopes, such as Chandra. In response, the Generation-X (“Gen-X”) Vision Mission has been proposed as a future X-ray observatory which will be capable of detecting the earliest objects. X-ray imaging and spectroscopy of such faint objects demands a large collecting area and high angular resolution. The Gen-X mission plans 100Â m2 collecting area at 1Â keV (1000Ã that of Chandra), and with an angular resolution of 0.1â³. The Gen-X mission will operate at Sun-Earth L2, and might involve four 8Â m diameter telescopes or even a single 20Â m diameter telescope. To achieve the required effective area with reasonable mass, very lightweight grazing incidence X-ray optics must be developed, having an areal density 100Ã lower than in Chandra, with mirrors as thin as 0.1Â mm requiring active on-orbit figure control. The suite of available detectors for Gen-X should include a large-area high resolution imager, a cryogenic imaging spectrometer, and a grating spectrometer. We discuss use of Gen-X to observe the birth of the first black holes, stars and galaxies, and trace their cosmic evolution.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Authors
Rogier A. Windhorst, R.A. Cameron, R.J. Brissenden, M.S. Elvis, G. Fabbiano, P. Gorenstein, P.B. Reid, D.A. Schwartz, M.W. Bautz, E. Figueroa-Feliciano, R. Petre, N.E. White, W.W. Zhang,