Constellation-X spectroscopy x-ray telescope (SXT)

Robert Petre; William W. Zhang; David A. Content; Timo T. Saha; Jeff Stewart; Jason H. Hair; Diep Nguyen; William A. Podgorski; William R. Davis Jr.; Mark D. Freeman; Lester M. Cohen; Mark L. Schattenburg; Ralf K. Heilmann; Yanxia Sun; Craig R. Forest

doi:10.1117/12.461317

11 March 2003 Constellation-X spectroscopy X-ray telescope (SXT)

Robert Petre, William W. Zhang, David A. Content, Timo T. Saha, Jeff Stewart, Jason H. Hair, Diep Nguyen, William A. Podgorski, William R. Davis Jr., Mark D. Freeman, Lester M. Cohen, Mark L. Schattenburg, Ralf K. Heilmann, Yanxia Sun, Craig R. Forest

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4851, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Telescopes and Instruments for Astronomy; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461317
Event: Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, 2002, Waikoloa, Hawai'i, United States

Abstract

We provide an overview of the Constellation-X SXT development program. We describe the performance requirements and goals, and the status of the technology development program. The SXT has a 1.6-meter diameter, a 10-meter focal length, and is to have an angular resolution exceeding 15 arc seconds. It has a modular design, incorporting lightweight, multiply nested, segmented Wolter Type I x-ray mirrors. All aspects of the design lend themselves to mass-production. The reflecting surfaces are produced by epoxy replication off precision mandrels onto glass substrates that have been accurately formed by thermal slumping. Coalignment of groups of relfectors to the required sub-micron accuracy is assisted by precison silicon micorstructures. Optical alignment is performed using the Centroid Detector Assembly originally developed for aligning the Chandra mirror. Recent efforts have concentrated on the producotin of an Engineering Unit, incorporating the components for the first time into a flight-like configuration. We summarize the status of the development of the processes for the key components and the initial metrology results of the Engineering Unit.

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Robert Petre, William W. Zhang, David A. Content, Timo T. Saha, Jeff Stewart, Jason H. Hair, Diep Nguyen, William A. Podgorski, William R. Davis Jr., Mark D. Freeman, Lester M. Cohen, Mark L. Schattenburg, Ralf K. Heilmann, Yanxia Sun, and Craig R. Forest "Constellation-X spectroscopy X-ray telescope (SXT)", Proc. SPIE 4851, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Telescopes and Instruments for Astronomy, (11 March 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.461317

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