CXBN: a blueprint for an improved measurement of the cosmological x-ray background

Lance M. Simms; J. Garrett Jernigan; Benjamin K. Malphrus; Roger McNeil; Kevin Z. Brown; Tyler G. Rose; Hyoung Sup Lim; Steven Anderson; Jeffrey A. Kruth; John P. Doty; Matthew Wampler-Doty; Lynn R. Cominsky; Kamal S. Prasad; Eric T. Thomas; Michael S. Combs; Robert T. Kroll; Benjamin J. Cahall; Tyler T. Turba; Brandon L. Molton; Margaret M. Powell; Jonathan F. Fitzpatrick; Daniel C. Graves; Stephen D. Gaalema; Shunming Sun

doi:10.1117/12.953573

24 October 2012 CXBN: a blueprint for an improved measurement of the cosmological x-ray background

Lance M. Simms, J. Garrett Jernigan, Benjamin K. Malphrus, Roger McNeil, Kevin Z. Brown, Tyler G. Rose, Hyoung Sup Lim, Steven Anderson, Jeffrey A. Kruth, John P. Doty, Matthew Wampler-Doty, Lynn R. Cominsky, Kamal S. Prasad, Eric T. Thomas, Michael S. Combs, Robert T. Kroll, Benjamin J. Cahall, Tyler T. Turba, Brandon L. Molton, Margaret M. Powell, Jonathan F. Fitzpatrick, Daniel C. Graves, Stephen D. Gaalema, Shunming Sun

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8507, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XIV; 850719 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.953573
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A precise measurement of the Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) is crucial for constraining models of the evolution and composition of the universe. While several large, expensive satellites have measured the CXB as a secondary mission, there is still disagreement about normalization of its spectrum. The Cosmic X-ray Background NanoSat (CXBN) is a small, low-cost satellite whose primary goal is to measure the CXB over its two-year lifetime. Benefiting from a low instrument-induced background due to its small mass and size, CXBN will use a novel, pixelated Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) detector with energy resolution < 1 keV over the range 1-60 keV to measure the CXBN with unprecedented accuracy. This paper describes CXBN and its science payload, including the GEANT4 model that has been used to predict overall performance and the backgrounds from secondary particles in Low Earth Orbit. It also addresses the strategy for scanning the sky and calibrating the data, and presents the expected results over the two-year mission lifetime.

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Lance M. Simms, J. Garrett Jernigan, Benjamin K. Malphrus, Roger McNeil, Kevin Z. Brown, Tyler G. Rose, Hyoung Sup Lim, Steven Anderson, Jeffrey A. Kruth, John P. Doty, Matthew Wampler-Doty, Lynn R. Cominsky, Kamal S. Prasad, Eric T. Thomas, Michael S. Combs, Robert T. Kroll, Benjamin J. Cahall, Tyler T. Turba, Brandon L. Molton, Margaret M. Powell, Jonathan F. Fitzpatrick, Daniel C. Graves, Stephen D. Gaalema, and Shunming Sun "CXBN: a blueprint for an improved measurement of the cosmological x-ray background", Proc. SPIE 8507, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics XIV, 850719 (24 October 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.953573

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