Astronomy:X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission

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Short description: Japanese research satellite
X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (X線分光撮像衛星)
XRISM in a nutshell (cropped).png
NamesXRISM
ASTRO-H Successor
ASTRO-H2
XARM
Mission typeX-ray astronomy
OperatorJAXA
Websitexrism.isas.jaxa.jp/en
www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/xrism-x-ray-imaging-and-spectroscopy-mission
Mission duration3 years (planned)
≈10 months and 16 days (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeASTRO
BusASTRO-H
Launch mass2,300 kg (5,100 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date6 September 2023, 23:42:11 UTC[1]
RocketH-IIA 202
Launch siteTanegashima Space Center
ContractorMitsubishi Heavy Industries
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude550 km
Apogee altitude550 km
Inclination31.0°
Period96.0 minutes
Main telescope
NameSoft X-ray Telescope
Diameter45 cm (18 in) [2]
Focal length5.6 m (18 ft)
← Hitomi (ASTRO-H)
 
XRISM

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM, pronounced "crism"), formerly the X-ray Astronomy Recovery Mission (XARM), is an X-ray space telescope mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in partnership with NASA to provide breakthroughs in the study of structure formation of the universe, outflows from galaxy nuclei, and dark matter.[3][4] As the only international X-ray observatory project of its period, XRISM will function as a next generation space telescope in the X-ray astronomy field, similar to how the James Webb Space Telescope, Fermi Space Telescope, and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Observatory are placed in their respective fields.[2][5]

The mission is a stopgap for avoiding a potential period of observation loss between the current X-ray telescopes (Chandra and XMM-Newton), and those of the future (Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA)). Without XRISM, there could be a time period during with no X-ray data was collected. This would arise in the early 2020s as these two reach the end of their missions, due to the loss, in 2016, of the Hitomi X-ray telescope, which was launched to be the follow-on to the Chandra and Newton telescopes.[2][5]

During its early design phase, XRISM was also known as the "ASTRO-H Successor" or "ASTRO-H2". After the loss of Hitomi, the name XARM was used, the R in the acronym referring to recovering the ability to do X-ray spectroscopy. The name changed to XRISM in 2018 when JAXA formally initiated the project team.[6]

Overview

XRISM spacecraft

With the retirement of Suzaku in September 2015, and the detectors onboard Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton operating for more than 15 years and gradually aging, the failure of Hitomi meant that X-ray astronomers would have a 13-year blank period in soft X-ray observation, until the launch of ATHENA in 2035.[Note 1][2][5][7] This would result in a major setback for the international community,[8] as studies performed by large scale observatories in other wavelengths, such as the James Webb Space Telescope and the Thirty Meter Telescope will commence in the early 2020s, while there would be no telescope to cover the most important part of X-ray astronomy.[2][5] A lack of new missions could also deprive young astronomers a chance to gain hands-on experience from participating in a project.[2][5] Along with these reasons, motivation to recover science that was expected as results from Hitomi, became the rationale to initiate the XRISM project. XRISM has been recommended by ISAS's Advisory Council for Research and Management, the High Energy AstroPhysics Association in Japan, NASA Astrophysics Subcommittee, NASA Science Committee, NASA Advisory Council.[5][9]

With its successful launch in September 2023,[1] XRISM is expected to cover the science that was lost with Hitomi, such as the structure formation of the universe, feedback from galaxies/active galaxy nuclei, and the history of material circulation from stars to galaxy clusters.[4] The space telescope will also take over Hitomi's role as a technology demonstrator for the European Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (ATHENA) telescope.[7][10][11] Multiple space agencies, including NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are participating in the mission.[12] In Japan, the project is led by JAXA's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) division, and U.S. participation is led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The U.S. contribution is expected to cost around US$80 million, which is about the same amount as the contribution to Hitomi.[13][14]

Changes from Hitomi

203 foils assembled in the X-ray Mirror Assembly XMA

The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission will be one of the first projects for ISAS to have a separate project manager (PM) and primary investigator (PI). This measure was taken as part of ISAS's reform in project management to prevent the recurrence of the Hitomi accident.[5] In traditional ISAS missions, the PM was also responsible for tasks that would typically be allocated to PIs in a NASA mission.

While Hitomi had an array of instruments spanning from soft X-ray to soft gamma ray, XRISM will focus around the Resolve instrument (equivalent to Hitomi's soft X-ray spectrometer),[15] as well as Xtend (SXI), which has a high affinity to Resolve.[16] The elimination of a hard X-ray telescope was justified by the 2012 launch of NASA's NuSTAR satellite, something that did not exist when Hitomi (then known as the New X-Ray Telescope, NeXT) was initially formulated.[17][Note 2] NuSTAR's spatial and energy resolution is analogous to Hitomi's hard X-ray instruments.[17] Once XRISM's operation starts, collaborative observations with NuSTAR will likely be essential.[4] Meanwhile, the scientific value of the soft and hard X-ray band width boundary has been noted; therefore the option of upgrading XRISM's instruments to be partially capable of hard X-ray observation is under consideration.[16][17][needs update]

A hard X-ray telescope proposal with abilities surpassing Hitomi has was proposed in 2017.[18] The FORCE (Focusing On Relativistic universe and Cosmic Evolution) space telescope is a candidate for the next ISAS competitive medium class mission. If selected, FORCE would be launched after the mid-2020s, with an eye towards conducting simultaneous observations with ATHENA.[18][4]

History

Following the premature termination of the Hitomi mission, on 14 June 2016 JAXA announced their proposal to rebuild the satellite.[19] The XARM pre-project preparation team was formed in October 2016.[20] In the U.S. side, formulation began in the summer of 2017.[3] In June 2017, ESA announced that they would participate in XARM as a mission of opportunity.[12]

Instruments

An illustration of the range of cosmic temperatures including the temperature at which XRISM will work to ensure the optimal functioning of its instruments[21]

XRISM carries two instruments for studying the soft X-ray energy range, Resolve and Xtend. The satellite has telescopes for each of the instruments, SXT-I (Soft X-ray Telescope for Imager) and SXT-S (Soft X-ray Telescope for Spectrometer).[5] The pair of telescopes have a focal length of 5.6 m (18 ft).[2]

Resolve

Resolve is an X-ray micro calorimeter developed by NASA and the Goddard Space Flight Center.[22] The instrument is a duplicate version of its Hitomi predecessor. It used some space-qualified hardware left from the manufacture of Hitomi 's SXS.[23]

Xtend

Xtend is an X-ray CCD camera. Xtend improves on the energy resolution of Hitomi's SXI.[24]

Launch

JAXA launched XRISM on 6 September 2023 at 23:42 UTC (7 September 08:42 Japan Standard Time) using an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Space Center. XRISM was successfully inserted into orbit on the same day, and the accompanying launch payload, SLIM, began its multi-month journey to the Moon.[1]

A protective shutter over the Resolve instrument's detector has failed to open. This does not prevent the instrument from operating, but limits it to observing X-rays of energy 1800 eV and above, as opposed to the planned 300 eV.[25][26] A similar shutter over Xtend has opened normally.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Saku Tsuneta, director general of ISAS describes ATHENA as being a "super ASTRO-H"
  2. ↑ Hitomi/ASTRO-H was known as New X-ray Telescope (NeXT) during its proposal stage

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Davenport, Justin (6 September 2023). "Japanese H-IIA launches X-ray telescope and lunar lander". NASASpaceFlight. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/09/xrism-slim/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Tsuneta, Saku (July 14, 2016). "Ｘ線天文衛星ASTRO‐H「ひとみ」の後継機の検討について" (PDF) (Press release) (in 日本語). JAXA. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Hertz, Paul (22 June 2017). "Astrophysics". NASA. https://www.nsf.gov/attachments/190966/public/HertzAAAC2017Jun22FINAL2.pdf#page=50.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Fujimoto, Ryuichi; Tashiro, Makoto (5 January 2017). "ASTRO-Hに対する高エネルギーコミュニティの総括と今後の方向性について" (in ja). JAXA. https://repository.exst.jaxa.jp/dspace/bitstream/a-is/609732/1/SA6000060006.pdf. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 "Ｘ線天文衛星代替機の検討状況について" (in ja). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. 29 September 2016. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu2/059/shiryo/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2016/10/06/1377887_7.pdf. 
  6. ↑ "X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission: What's New". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xrism/whatsnew/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "ISASニュース 2017.1 No.430" (in ja). Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. 22 January 2017. http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/outreach/isas_news/files/ISASnews430.pdf. 
  8. ↑ "Ｘ線天文衛星「ひとみ」の異常事象への対応と代替機の開発について" (in ja). Committee on National Space Policy of Japan. 18 August 2016. http://www8.cao.go.jp/space/comittee/dai52/siryou2-1.pdf. 
  9. ↑ Craft, R.; Bautz, M.; Tomsick, J. (29 January 2017). "Probing the Hot and Energetic Universe: X-rays and Astrophysics". NASA. https://pcos.gsfc.nasa.gov/physpag/meetings/APS_2017/Kraft_aps2017_xrsig_16_9_v2.pdf#page=9.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. ↑ Takahashi, Tadayuki (27 November 2015). "X線天文衛星 ASTRO-Hの衛星概要" (in ja). JAXA. http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/topics/files/20151202_1.pdf#page=14. 
  11. ↑ Dotani, Tadayasu (15 June 2011). "The 1st Athena Science Workshop JAXA Contribution". Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. http://www2011.mpe.mpg.de/athena/workshop_mpe_2011/talks/Athena_Dotani_2011June15.pdf#page=9. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "GRAVITATIONAL WAVE MISSION SELECTED, PLANET-HUNTING MISSION MOVES FORWARD". ESA. 20 June 2017. http://sci.esa.int/cosmic-vision/59243-gravitational-wave-mission-selected-planet-hunting-mission-moves-forward/. 
  13. ↑ Foust, Jeff (21 July 2016). "NASA may build replacement instrument for Japanese astronomy mission". SpaceNews. http://spacenews.com/nasa-may-build-replacement-instrument-for-japanese-astronomy-mission/. 
  14. ↑ "第９回 宇宙科学・探査小委員会 議事要旨" (in ja). Committee on National Space Policy of Japan. 1 November 2016. http://www8.cao.go.jp/space/comittee/27-kiban/kiban-dai26/siryou2.pdf. 
  15. ↑ Tashiro, Makoto; Kelley, Richard (8 June 2017). "X‐ray Astronomy Recovery Mission XARM". ESA. https://www.cosmos.esa.int/documents/332006/1402684/MTashiro_t.pdf. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "宇宙開発利用部会（第30回）議事録" (in ja). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. 29 September 2016. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu2/059/gijiroku/1379220.htm. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "宇宙開発利用部会（第29回）議事録" (in ja). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. 14 July 2016. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu2/059/gijiroku/1376305.htm. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Nakazawa, Kazuhiro; Mori, Koji (6 January 2017). "軟Ｘ線から硬Ｘ線の広帯域を高感度で撮像分光する小型衛星計画 FORCE - Focusing On Relativistic universe and Cosmic Evolution" (in ja). JAXA. https://repository.exst.jaxa.jp/dspace/bitstream/a-is/609717/1/SA6000060036.pdf. 
  19. ↑ "Astrophysics Implementation Plan: 2016 Update". NASA. 15 December 2017. https://smd-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/science-red/s3fs-public/atoms/files/APD_ImpPlan_2016-12-15_0.pdf#page=16. 
  20. ↑ "ISASニュース 2017.6 No.435" (in ja). Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. 23 June 2017. http://www.isas.jaxa.jp/outreach/isas_news/files/ISASnews435.pdf#page=6. 
  21. ↑ SVS (2023-08-03). "NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | A Guide to Cosmic Temperatures" (in english). https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14374/. 
  22. ↑ "Missions of Opportunity (MO) in Development – X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) – Resolve". NASA. https://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov/unex_mo_intern.html#xarm.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  23. ↑ Foust, Jeff (13 June 2016). "NASA and JAXA begin discussions on aftermath of Hitomi failure". SpaceNews. http://spacenews.com/nasa-and-jaxa-begin-discussions-on-aftermath-of-hitomi-failure/. 
  24. ↑ "X線天文衛星ASTRO-Hのプロジェクト終了について" (in ja). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. 30 May 2017. http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu2/059/shiryo/__icsFiles/afieldfile/2017/06/20/1386893_1.pdf. 
  25. ↑ "XRISM's First Light and Operational Update" (Press release). Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. 5 January 2024. ...Resolve's spectra are still limited to 1,800 eV and above because the Dewar aperture door to protect the sensitive detector has yet to be opened....
  26. ↑ Kazmierczak, Jeanette (5 January 2024). "NASA/JAXA XRISM Mission Reveals Its First Look at X-ray Cosmos" (Press release). NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The door, designed to protect the detector before launch, has not opened as planned after several attempts. The door blocks lower-energy X-rays, effectively cutting the mission off at 1,700 electron volts compared to the planned 300.

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