Continuous hard x-ray imager for astrophysics

摘要

Abstract: CHIP - the continuous hard x-ray imager for astrophysics) - is a powerful hard x ray imaging spectroscopy mission, an order of magnitude more sensitive to hard x rays than XTE, comprised of the large uniform coverage imager (LUCY) for all-sky coverage and the deep extragalactic survey imager (DESI) for more sensitive pointed observations. Both instrument complements will utilize the room temperature semiconductor CdZnTe in mosaiced arrays of position sensitive devices in conjunction with coded masks. Each unit will provide imaging from 2 - 100 keV with approximately 1 keV energy resolution throughout the entire energy range and few arcminute intrinsic spatial resolution. LUCY will provide (1) a complete flux- limited sample of the hard x-ray contents of our galaxy as well as of the extragalactic sky, (2) alarms and precise positions for transient phenomena on all timescales from seconds to days, and (3) continuous spectral/temporal studies of these objects over a vast range of timescales from seconds to days, to months, to years. DESI will extend LUCY's coverage even deeper by viewing a small portion of the hard x-ray sky (0.01 sr) for background limited studies of individual objects considerably deeper than present or future hard x-ray instruments. !12