The SXI telescope on board EXIST: scientific performances

L. Natalucci; A. Bazzano; S. Campana; P. Caraveo; R. Della Ceca; J. E. Grindlay; F. Panessa; G. Pareschi; B. Ramsey; G. Tagliaferri; P. Ubertini; G. Villa

doi:10.1117/12.826288

20 August 2009 The SXI telescope on board EXIST: scientific performances

L. Natalucci, A. Bazzano, S. Campana, P. Caraveo, R. Della Ceca, J. E. Grindlay, F. Panessa, G. Pareschi, B. Ramsey, G. Tagliaferri, P. Ubertini, G. Villa

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7435, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XVI; 74350C (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.826288
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2009, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The SXI telescope is one of the three instruments on board EXIST, a multiwavelenght observatory in charge of performing a global survey of the sky in hard X-rays searching for Supermassive Black Holes. One of the primary objectives of EXIST is also to study with unprecedented sensitivity the most unknown high energy sources in the Universe, like high redshift GRBs, which will be pointed promptly by the Spacecraft by autonomous trigger based on hard X-ray localization on board. The recent addition of a soft X-ray telescope to the EXIST payload complement, with an effective area of 950 cm² in the energy band 0.2-3 keV and extended response up to 10 keV will allow to make broadband studies from 0.1 to 600 keV. In particular, investigations of the spectra components and states of AGNs and monitoring of variability of sources, study of the prompt and afterglow emission of GRBs since the early phases, which will help to constrain the emission models and finally, help the identification of sources in the EXIST hard X-ray survey and the characterization of the transient events detected. SXI will also perform surveys: a scanning survey with sky coverage ~ 2 π and limiting flux of ~ 5 × 10^-14 cgs plus other serendipitous. We give an overview of the SXI scientific performance and also describe the status of its design emphasizing how it has been derived by the scientific requirements.

Citation Download Citation

L. Natalucci, A. Bazzano, S. Campana, P. Caraveo, R. Della Ceca, J. E. Grindlay, F. Panessa, G. Pareschi, B. Ramsey, G. Tagliaferri, P. Ubertini, and G. Villa "The SXI telescope on board EXIST: scientific performances", Proc. SPIE 7435, UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XVI, 74350C (20 August 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.826288

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