HaloSat: A CubeSat to Study the Hot Galactic Halo

Kaaret, Philip; Zajczyk, A.; LaRocca, Daniel M.; Ringuette, Rebecca; Bluem, J.; Fuelberth, William; Gulick, Hannah; Jahoda, K.; Johnson, Thomas E.; Kirchner, D. L.; Koutroumpa, Dimitra; Küntz, K. D.; McCurdy, Ross; Miles, Drew M.; Robison, W. T.; Silich, Emily

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ab4193

Cited by 38 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…HaloSat is an instrument optimized for observations of diffuse X-ray emitting structures (Kaaret et al 2019;LaRocca et al 2020). It has a large field of view, the spectra are moderately well resolved, and the CubeSat nature provides the flexibility to schedule observations to reduce sources of foreground contamination.…”

Section: Halosat Observations Of the Npsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has a large field of view, the spectra are moderately well resolved, and the CubeSat nature provides the flexibility to schedule observations to reduce sources of foreground contamination. HaloSat carries three X-ray silicon drift detectors sensitive in the 0.4-7.0 keV energy band with average energy resolutions of 84.9 eV at the 676 eV F Kα line and 137.4 eV at the 5.9 keV Mn Kα line, comparable to XMM-Newton and Suzaku (Kaaret et al 2019). The HaloSat fullresponse field of view is a 10°diameter circle, which makes it a useful tool to probe X-ray emission from diffuse structures such as the NPS.…”

Section: Halosat Observations Of the Npsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We fix the photon index to 1.45. Using the HaloSat response-weighted effective field-of-view solid angle of 0.0350 sr (Kaaret et al 2019); their normalization was converted to a normalization of 0.38 photons keV −1 cm −2 s −1 for the HaloSat FOV in spectral analysis and was fixed. The X-ray absorption was modeled using TBabs.…”

Section: The Cosmic X-ray Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Analysis of the North Polar Spur Using HaloSat

LaRocca

Kaaret

Küntz

et al. 2020

ApJ

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We present HaloSat X-ray observations of the entirety of the bright X-ray emitting feature known as the North Polar Spur (NPS). The large field of view of HaloSat enabled coverage of the entire bright NPS in only 14 fields, which were each observed for ≈30,000 s. We find that the NPS fields are distinct in both brightness and spectral shape from the surrounding halo fields. We fit the NPS as two thermal components in ionization equilibrium with temperatures » kT keV 0.087 cool and » kT keV 0.28 hot . We note a temperature gradient in the NPS hot component with an inner arc temperature warmer than the outer arc. The emission measures we find for the cool component of the NPS is a factor of 3-5 greater than that of the hot component, which suggests that the bulk of the NPS material is in the ≈0.1 keV component. We evaluate distance estimates of 0.4 and 8.0 kpc for the NPS. Our findings suggest a preference for a distant NPS with an energy of ≈ 6×10 54 erg, an age of ≈ 10 Myr, and pressures consistent with a 10μG magnetic field associated with the Fermi bubbles. The electron density ≈10×10 −3 cm −3 is consistent with estimates for the shock region surrounding a Galactic-scale event.Unified Astronomy Thesaurus concepts: X-ray astronomy (1810); Interstellar medium (847); Diffuse x-ray background (384); Superbubbles (1656)

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Section: Halosat Observations Of the Npsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Halosat Observations Of the Npsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Cosmic X-ray Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Analysis of the North Polar Spur Using HaloSat

LaRocca

Kaaret

Küntz

et al. 2020

ApJ

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“…For example, long-duration pointed monitoring is a unique niche. So far the Astrophysics division within NASA's Science Mission Directorate has funded four CubeSat missions: in γ-rays (BurstCube, (171) ), X-rays (HaloSat, (172) ), and in the ultraviolet (SPARCS, (173) ; CUTE, (174) ).…”

Section: Cubesatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: far-infrared instrumentation and technological development for the next decade

Farrah

Smith

Ardila

et al. 2019

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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Far-infrared astronomy has advanced rapidly since its inception in the late 1950's, driven by a maturing technology base and an expanding community of researchers. This advancement has shown that observations at far-infrared wavelengths are important in nearly all areas of astrophysics, from the search for habitable planets and the origin of life, to the earliest stages of galaxy assembly in the first few hundred million years of cosmic history. The combination of a still developing portfolio of technologies, particularly in the field of detectors, and a widening ensemble of platforms within which these technologies can be deployed, means that far-infrared astronomy holds the potential for paradigm-shifting advances over the next decade. In this review, we examine current and future far-infrared observing platforms, including ground-based, sub-orbital, and space-based facilities, and discuss the technology development pathways that will enable and enhance these platforms to best address the challenges facing far-infrared astronomy in the 21st century.

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“…It carries three silicon drift detectors sensitive to the 0.23-8.0 keV band. Its purpose is to map the entire sky in O VII and O VIII at a resolution of ∼ 10 • (Kaaret 2017). Its SWCX mitigation strategy is to observe within 70 • of the anti-sun whenever possible in order to avoid the magnetospheric SWCX and to minimize the variation in the heliospheric SWCX.…”

Section: New Missionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar wind charge exchange: an astrophysical nuisance

Küntz

2018

Astron Astrophys Rev

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Solar Wind Charge-Exchange (SWCX) emission is present in every Xray observation of an astrophysical object. The emission is problematic when one cannot remove the foreground by the simultaneous measurement of a nearby field. SWCX emission is a serious impediment to the study of the diffuse hot ISM, including the Galactic halo, as its contribution to diagnostic emission lines is temporally variable. Modeling the SWCX emission, in order to remove it from our observations, has proven to be more difficult than originally anticipated. This work reviews our current understanding of SWCX emission, with special attention to all of the components required for future modeling tools. Since, in the absence of such a tool, observing programs can still be constructed to minimize the effect of SWCX, mitigation strategies are discussed. Although some aspects of SWCX will be very difficult to characterize, progress continues on many fronts.

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HaloSat: A CubeSat to Study the Hot Galactic Halo

Cited by 38 publications

References 45 publications

An Analysis of the North Polar Spur Using HaloSat

An Analysis of the North Polar Spur Using HaloSat

Review: far-infrared instrumentation and technological development for the next decade

Solar wind charge exchange: an astrophysical nuisance

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