Athena+: The first Deep Universe X-ray Observatory

D. Barret; K. Nandra; X. Barcons; A Fabian; J-W den Herder; L. Piro; M. Watson; J. Aird; G. Branduardi-Raymont; M. Cappi; F. Carrera; A. Comastri; E. Costantini; J. Croston; A. Decourchelle; C. Done; M. Dovciak; S. Ettori; A. Finoguenov; A. Georgakakis; P. Jonker; J. Kaastra; G. Matt; C. Motch; P. O'Brien; G. Pareschi; E. Pointecouteau; G. Pratt; G. Rauw; T. Reiprich; J. Sanders; S. Sciortino; R. Willingale; J. Wilms

arXiv · 1310.3814

Athena+: The first Deep Universe X-ray Observatory

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Abstract

The Advanced Telescope for High-energy Astrophysics (Athena+) is being proposed to ESA as the L2 mission (for a launch in 2028) and is specifically designed to answer two of the most pressing questions for astrophysics in the forthcoming decade: How did ordinary matter assemble into the large scale structures we see today? and how do black holes grow and shape the Universe? For addressing these two issues, Athena+ will provide transformational capabilities in terms of angular resolution, effective area, spectral resolution, grasp, that will make it the most powerful X-ray observatory ever flown. Such an observatory, when opened to the astronomical community, will be used for virtually all classes of astrophysical objects, from high-z gamma-ray bursts to the closest planets in our solar neighborhood. In this paper, we briefly review the core science objectives of Athena+, present the science requirements and the foreseen implementation of the mission, and illustrate its transformational capabilities compared to existing facilities.

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D. Barret, K. Nandra, X. Barcons, A Fabian, J-W den Herder, L. Piro, M. Watson, J. Aird, G. Branduardi-Raymont, M. Cappi, F. Carrera, A. Comastri, E. Costantini, J. Croston, A. Decourchelle, C. Done, M. Dovciak, S. Ettori, A. Finoguenov, A. Georgakakis, P. Jonker, J. Kaastra, G. Matt, C. Motch, P. O'Brien, G. Pareschi, E. Pointecouteau, G. Pratt, G. Rauw, T. Reiprich, J. Sanders, S. Sciortino, R. Willingale, J. Wilms. 2013-10-14. Athena+: The first Deep Universe X-ray Observatory. https://arxiv.org/abs/1310.3814

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