Hard X-ray Optics for the NuSTAR Satellite Mission
Abstract
Nearly 30 years ago, the Einstein observatory introduced grazing incidence focusing optics for soft X-rays ( 0.1-10 keV), completely changing our view of the X-ray sky. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), a NASA satellite mission, is poised to similarly open the next energy decade - the hard X-ray band from 6 to 80 keV. Using focusing optics with multilayer coating for enhanced reflectivity at high energies, NuSTAR will provide a combination of clarity, sensitivity and spectral resolution surpassing the largest observatories in this band by orders of magnitude. This advance will allow NuSTAR to test theories of how heavy elements are born, discover collapsed stars and black holes on all scales and explore the most extreme physical environments. We will present an overview of the NuSTAR optics design and production process and detail the optics performance. We will also describe our optics calibration plans. As part of this discussion, we will include ground and in-flight calibration results for the optics from the HEFT balloon program -- from which the NuSTAR optics are based.
- Publication:
-
AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #10
- Pub Date:
- March 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008HEAD...10.3001K