XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer
Abstract
The past two decades have witnessed the rapid growth of our knowledge of the X-ray Universe thanks to flagship X-ray space observatories like XMM-Newton and Chandra. A significant portion of discoveries would have been impossible without the X-ray diffractive grating spectrometers aboard these two space observatories. We briefly overview the physical principles of diffractive grating spectrometers as the background to the beginning of a new era with the next-generation (diffractive and non-diffractive) high-resolution X-ray spectrometers. This chapter focuses on the Reflection Grating Spectrometer aboard XMM-Newton, which provides high-quality high-resolution spectra in the soft X-ray band. Its performance and excellent calibration quality have allowed breakthrough advancements in a wide range of astrophysical topics. For the benefit of new learners, we illustrate how to reduce RGS imaging, timing, and spectral data.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- July 2023
- DOI:
- 10.48550/arXiv.2307.01414
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2307.01414
- Bibcode:
- 2023arXiv230701414M
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena;
- Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Invited review chapter for the book High-Resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy: Instrumentation, Data Analysis, and Science (Eds. C. Bambi and J. Jiang, Springer Singapore, expected in 2023)