The soft x-ray imager on THESEUS: the transient high energy survey and early universe surveyor

O’Brien, P. T.; Hutchinson, Ian; Lerman, Hannah; Feldman, Charlotte; McHugh, Melissa; Lodge, Alexander; Willingale, R.; Beardmore, A. P.; Speight, Roisin; Drumm, P.V.

doi:10.1117/12.2561301

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The images show the two cameras with the mounting structures and the optics on top. More information on the SXI can be found in [35] Italy. The mission nominal duration will be 4 years (corresponding to about three and half years of scientific operations), due to programmatic constraints: no technological issues preventing an extension by at least 2 more years have been identified.…”

Section: Theseus Mission Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

The THESEUS space mission: science goals, requirements and mission concept

Amati¹,

O’Brien

Götz

et al. 2021

Exp Astron

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THESEUS, one of the two space mission concepts being studied by ESA as candidates for next M5 mission within its Comsic Vision programme, aims at fully exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) to solve key questions about the early Universe, as well as becoming a cornerstone of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. By investigating the first billion years of the Universe through high-redshift GRBs, THESEUS will shed light on the main open issues in modern cosmology, such as the population of primordial low mass and luminosity galaxies, sources and evolution of cosmic re-ionization, SFR and metallicity evolution up to the “cosmic dawn” and across Pop-III stars. At the same time, the mission will provide a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics by enabling the identification, accurate localisation and study of electromagnetic counterparts to sources of gravitational waves and neutrinos, which will be routinely detected in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s by the second and third generation Gravitational Wave (GW) interferometers and future neutrino detectors, as well as of all kinds of GRBs and most classes of other X/gamma-ray transient sources. Under all these respects, THESEUS will provide great synergies with future large observing facilities in the multi-messenger domain. A Guest Observer programme, comprising Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations, will expand the science return of the mission, to include, e.g., solar system minor bodies, exoplanets, and AGN.

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Section: Theseus Mission Conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

The THESEUS space mission: science goals, requirements and mission concept

Amati¹,

O’Brien

Götz

et al. 2021

Exp Astron

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show abstract

“…The detection plane of one XGIS unit has an active geometric area of 6400×0.45 2 = 1296 cm 2 , for what concerns the CsI(Tl) scintillators. The individual SDD pixels have an active cross section smaller than that of the underlying scintillators, due to partial covering by the PCB (3.5×5.0 mm 2 for 4800 pixels and 3.5×3.5 mm 2 for the remaining ones).…”

Section: Effective Area and Imaging Sensitivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific simulations and optimization of the XGIS instrument on board THESEUS

Mereghetti¹,

Ghirlanda²,

Salvaterra³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The XGIS (X and Gamma Imaging Spectrometer) is one of the three instruments onboard the THESEUS mission (ESA M5, currently in Phase-A). Thanks to its wide field of view and good imaging capabilities, it will efficiently detect and localize gamma-ray bursts and other transients in the 2-150 keV sky, and also provide spectroscopy up to 10 MeV. Its current design has been optimized by means of scientific simulations based on a Monte Carlo model of the instrument coupled to a state-of-the-art description of the populations of long and short GRBs extending to high redshifts. We describe the optimization process that led to the current design of the XGIS, based on two identical units with partially overlapping fields of view, and discuss the expected performance of the instrument.

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“…In order to fulfil the science requirements, detect as many high z GRBs as possible, and to provide a large field of view, a multi module lobster eye telescope was proposed. The initial design was based on that of the THESEUS SXI instrument 16 (Figure 3), but due to the difference in size of the detectors selected for Gamow compared to THESEUS, it was necessary to change the shape of each module.…”

Section: The Lextmentioning

confidence: 99%

LEXT: a lobster eye optic for Gamow

Feldman,

O'Brien,

White

et al. 2021

Preprint

Self Cite

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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 fulfil 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.

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The soft x-ray imager on THESEUS: the transient high energy survey and early universe surveyor

Cited by 10 publications

References 4 publications

The THESEUS space mission: science goals, requirements and mission concept

The THESEUS space mission: science goals, requirements and mission concept

Scientific simulations and optimization of the XGIS instrument on board THESEUS

LEXT: a lobster eye optic for Gamow

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