Poster + Paper
23 August 2021 LEXT: a lobster eye optic for Gamow
Author Affiliations +
Conference Poster
Abstract
The Lobster Eye X-ray Telescope (LEXT) is one of the payloads on-board the Gamow Explorer, which will be proposed to the 2021 NASA Explorer MIDEX opportunity. If approved, it will be launched in 2028, and is optimised to identify high-z Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) and enable rapid follow-up. The LEXT is a two module, CCD focal plane, large field of view telescope utilising Micro Pore Optics (MPOs) over a bandpass of 0.2 - 5 keV. The geometry of the MPOs comprises a square packed array of microscopic pores with a square cross-section, arranged over a spherical surface with a radius of curvature of 600 mm, twice the focal length of the optic, 300 mm. Working in the photon energy range 0.2 - 5 keV, the optimum L/d ratio (length of pore L and pore width d) is 60, and is constant across the whole optic aperture. This paper details the baseline design for the LEXT optic in order to full the science goals of the Gamow mission. Extensive ray-trace analysis has been undertaken and we present the development of the optic design along with the optimisation of the field of view, effective area and focal length using this analysis. Investigations as to the ideal MPO characteristics, e.g. coatings, pore size, etc., and details of avenues for further study are also given.
© (2021) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Charlotte Feldman, Paul O'Brien, Nicholas White, Wayne Baumgartner, Nicholas Thomas, Alexander Lodge, Marshall Bautz, and Erik Hinrichsen "LEXT: a lobster eye optic for Gamow", Proc. SPIE 11822, Optics for EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy X, 118221D (23 August 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2596854
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KEYWORDS
X-ray telescopes

Reflection

Point spread functions

X-ray optics

Aluminum

Iridium

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