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arXiv · 1210.4378

The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory

Tadayuki Takahashi·Kazuhisa Mitsuda·Richard Kelley·Henri AartsFelix Aharonian·Hiroki Akamatsu·Fumie Akimoto·Steve Allen·Naohisa Anabuki·Lorella Angelini·Keith Arnaud·Makoto Asai·Marc Audard·Hisamitsu Awaki·Philipp Azzarello·Chris Baluta·Aya Bamba·Nobutaka Bando·Mark Bautz·Roger Blandford·Kevin Boyce·Greg Brown·Ed Cackett·Maria Chernyakova·Paolo Coppi·Elisa Costantini·Jelle de Plaa·Jan-Willem den Herder·Michael DiPirro·Chris Done·Tadayasu Dotani·John Doty·Ken Ebisawa·Megan Eckart·Teruaki Enoto·Yuichiro Ezoe·Andrew Fabian·Carlo Ferrigno·Adam Foster·Ryuichi Fujimoto·Yasushi Fukazawa·Stefan Funk·Akihiro Furuzawa·Massimiliano Galeazzi·Luigi Gallo·Poshak Gandhi·Keith Gendreau·Kirk Gilmore·Daniel Haas·Yoshito Haba·Kenji Hamaguchi·Isamu Hatsukade·Takayuki Hayashi·Kiyoshi Hayashida·Junko Hiraga·Kazuyuki Hirose·Ann Hornschemeier·Akio Hoshino·John Hughes·Una Hwang·Ryo Iizuka·Yoshiyuki Inoue·Kazunori Ishibashi·Manabu Ishida·Kosei Ishimura·Yoshitaka Ishisaki·Masayuki Ito·Naoko Iwata·Naoko Iyomoto·Jelle Kaastra·Timothy Kallman·Tuneyoshi Kamae·Jun Kataoka·Satoru Katsuda·Hajime Kawahara·Madoka Kawaharada·Nobuyuki Kawai·Shigeo Kawasaki·Dmitry Khangaluyan·Caroline Kilbourne·Masashi Kimura·Kenzo Kinugasa·Shunji Kitamoto·Tetsu Kitayama·Takayoshi Kohmura·Motohide Kokubun·Tatsuro Kosaka·Alex Koujelev·Katsuji Koyama·Hans Krimm·Aya Kubota·Hideyo Kunieda·Stephanie LaMassa·Philippe Laurent·Francois Lebrun·Maurice Leutenegger·Olivier Limousin·Michael Loewenstein·Knox Long·David Lumb·Grzegorz Madejski
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Abstract

The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions initiated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). ASTRO-H will investigate the physics of the high-energy universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range, from 0.3 keV to 600 keV. These instruments include a high-resolution, high-throughput spectrometer sensitive over 0.3-2 keV with high spectral resolution of Delta E < 7 eV, enabled by a micro-calorimeter array located in the focal plane of thin-foil X-ray optics; hard X-ray imaging spectrometers covering 5-80 keV, located in the focal plane of multilayer-coated, focusing hard X-ray mirrors; a wide-field imaging spectrometer sensitive over 0.4-12 keV, with an X-ray CCD camera in the focal plane of a soft X-ray telescope; and a non-focusing Compton-camera type soft gamma-ray detector, sensitive in the 40-600 keV band. The simultaneous broad bandpass, coupled with high spectral resolution, will enable the pursuit of a wide variety of important science themes.

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Tadayuki Takahashi, Kazuhisa Mitsuda, Richard Kelley, Henri AartsFelix Aharonian, Hiroki Akamatsu, Fumie Akimoto, Steve Allen, Naohisa Anabuki, Lorella Angelini, Keith Arnaud, Makoto Asai, Marc Audard, Hisamitsu Awaki, Philipp Azzarello, Chris Baluta, Aya Bamba, Nobutaka Bando, Mark Bautz, Roger Blandford, Kevin Boyce, Greg Brown, Ed Cackett, Maria Chernyakova, Paolo Coppi, Elisa Costantini, Jelle de Plaa, Jan-Willem den Herder, Michael DiPirro, Chris Done, Tadayasu Dotani, John Doty, Ken Ebisawa, Megan Eckart, Teruaki Enoto, Yuichiro Ezoe, Andrew Fabian, Carlo Ferrigno, Adam Foster, Ryuichi Fujimoto, Yasushi Fukazawa, Stefan Funk, Akihiro Furuzawa, Massimiliano Galeazzi, Luigi Gallo, Poshak Gandhi, Keith Gendreau, Kirk Gilmore, Daniel Haas, Yoshito Haba, Kenji Hamaguchi, Isamu Hatsukade, Takayuki Hayashi, Kiyoshi Hayashida, Junko Hiraga, Kazuyuki Hirose, Ann Hornschemeier, Akio Hoshino, John Hughes, Una Hwang, Ryo Iizuka, Yoshiyuki Inoue, Kazunori Ishibashi, Manabu Ishida, Kosei Ishimura, Yoshitaka Ishisaki, Masayuki Ito, Naoko Iwata, Naoko Iyomoto, Jelle Kaastra, Timothy Kallman, Tuneyoshi Kamae, Jun Kataoka, Satoru Katsuda, Hajime Kawahara, Madoka Kawaharada, Nobuyuki Kawai, Shigeo Kawasaki, Dmitry Khangaluyan, Caroline Kilbourne, Masashi Kimura, Kenzo Kinugasa, Shunji Kitamoto, Tetsu Kitayama, Takayoshi Kohmura, Motohide Kokubun, Tatsuro Kosaka, Alex Koujelev, Katsuji Koyama, Hans Krimm, Aya Kubota, Hideyo Kunieda, Stephanie LaMassa, Philippe Laurent, Francois Lebrun, Maurice Leutenegger, Olivier Limousin, Michael Loewenstein, Knox Long, David Lumb, Grzegorz Madejski. 2012-10-16. The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926190

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