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arXiv · 1001.2843

The International X-ray Observatory

Nicholas E. White·Arvind Parmar·Hideyo Kunieda·Kirpal Nandra·Takaya Ohashi·Jay Bookbinder
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Abstract

The International X-ray Observatory (IXO) is a joint ESA-JAXA-NASA effort to address fundamental and timely questions in astrophysics: What happens close to a black hole? How did supermassive black holes grow? How does large scale structure form? What is the connection between these processes? To address these questions IXO will employ optics with 3 sq m collecting area and 5 arc sec angular resolution - 20 times more collecting area at 1 keV than any previous X-ray observatory. Focal plane instruments will deliver a 100-fold increase in effective area for high-resolution spectroscopy, deep spectral imaging over a wide field of view, unprecedented polarimetric sensitivity, microsecond spectroscopic timing, and high count rate capability. The mission is being planned for launch in 2021 to an L2 orbit, with a five-year lifetime and consumables for 10 years.

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Nicholas E. White, Arvind Parmar, Hideyo Kunieda, Kirpal Nandra, Takaya Ohashi, Jay Bookbinder. 2010-01-16. The International X-ray Observatory. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3475340

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