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Astrophysics in the 21 st Century

Astrophysics in the 21 st Century Current directions in Space Science General purpose, high-specification Chandra Astro-E XMM (multi- l ) Integral NGST FIRST XEUS Constellation-X LISA XMM Current directions in Space Astronomy Themed observatories

Michelle
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Astrophysics in the 21 st Century

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  1. Astrophysics in the 21st Century

  2. Current directions in Space Science General purpose, high-specification • Chandra • Astro-E • XMM (multi-l) • Integral • NGST • FIRST • XEUS • Constellation-X • LISA XMM

  3. Current directions in Space Astronomy Themed observatories • SWIFT (multi-l) investigating g-ray bursts • GAIA, FAME (Hipparcos) mapping the Galaxy • Planck (COBE) measuring the CMB

  4. Directions in the future • Increasing trend for ‘themed’ missions • NASA’s ‘Great Observatories’ and ESA’s ‘Cornerstone Missions’ • Multi-l observatories • Better, faster and cheaper • Throughput • Spectral and spatial resolution • Timing • Broadband simultaneity • Photometric conditions • No atmosphere / weather / moonlight

  5. Scientific breakthroughs Spectral + throughput + spatial • Cosmology • Relativity • Astroparticle physics • XEUS launch 2010 • 1-10eV resolution over 0.1-30keV • 100x deeper than XMM • 2” HEW @1keV

  6. Scientific breakthroughs Spectral + throughput + spatial Simulation of XEUS spectrum of OVIII line at 0.65keV in AR Lac. 100 sec exposure

  7. Scientific breakthroughs Spatial + throughput + spectral Image of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A taken with the Chandra spacecraft. 1” resolution. Shows filaments of iron, silicon and sulphur – and absorption by dusty gas. Also – evolution of clusters, galaxies & quasars

  8. Scientific breakthroughs Timing + throughput + spectral Mapping structures in binary systems and the geometry of the complex gas distributions in AGN

  9. Astronomer’s wishlist • Multi-l data now essential for many classes of object • High throughput – 100x XMM from XEUS in 10 years • Spectral resolution – eg a few eV over 0.1-50 keV • Spatial resolution – 1/10 arcsec in EUV/X-rays • Timing resolution - ~millisecs for bright sources • priority for all missions • Essential for high-res timing and spectroscopy • ‘Conveyor-belt’ approach (eg Constellation-X)

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