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High Spectral Resolution, High Cadence, Imaging X-ray Microcalorimeters for Solar Physics - Phase 2 Project

Metadata Updated: December 6, 2023

<p> Microcalorimeter x-ray instruments are non-dispersive, high spectral resolution, broad-band, high cadence imaging spectrometers. We have been developing these instruments for x-ray astrophysics for over 25 years and have successfully flown them on both suborbital and orbital observatories. Microcalorimeter spectrometers are true spatial-spectral event-driven instruments. The core instrument for the Astro-H observatory to be launched in 2014 and for the International X-ray Observatory planned for around 2022 [1] are both microcalorimeter spectrometers. For the past two years, supported by the Solar and Heliospheric ROSES program, we have been adapting this highly successful technology to the very different requirements of solar physics. This leverages the large NASA investment in this technology to produce instruments optimized for solar physics with only a moderate development program.</p> <p> During the past two years, we have developed a high spatial resolution, high cadence microcalorimeter optimized for solar observations with a ground-breaking spectral resolving power of nearly 3000 at 6 keV. This exceeds the performance goals of our program. In fact, the single-pixel performance achieved during this program is already sufficient for a solar optimized instrument as described in section 2, albeit using small arrays of detectors. We propose here to continue this successful program by developing large focal-plane arrays, optimized for solar physics and their read-out systems. This complements our existing development programs in astrophysics, where we have already produced and tested kilo-pixel arrays for IXO. The end-result of the proposed work will be a solar-optimized detector system proven and ready for integration into a suborbital payload and then onto a space-borne observatory. Both the suborbital program and an orbital instrument would allow high cadence spatial-spectral observations across the x-ray band from 0.1 to above 10 keV, enabling new science as described in section 1.4. Ultimately this will produce instrumentation suitable for deployment on an Explorer-class mission and, possibly, a remote sensing contribution to the Solar Energetic Particle Acceleration and Transport (SEPAT) Solar-Terrestrial Probe [2]. &nbsp;</p>

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

References

http://techport.nasa.gov/home
http://techport.nasa.gov/doc/home/TechPort_Advanced_Search.pdf
http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=6561
http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=3456
http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=3447
http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=6584
http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=6560
http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=3448

Dates

Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
Metadata Updated Date December 6, 2023

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date November 12, 2020
Metadata Updated Date December 6, 2023
Publisher Science Mission Directorate
Maintainer
Identifier TECHPORT_10763
Data First Published 2010-10-01
Data Last Modified 2020-01-29
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://data.nasa.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id e7e719fa-2c53-4468-9baf-4984669fdc2d
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL http://techport.nasa.gov/view/10763
Program Code 026:000
Related Documents http://techport.nasa.gov/home, http://techport.nasa.gov/doc/home/TechPort_Advanced_Search.pdf, http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=6561, http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=3456, http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=3447, http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=6584, http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=6560, http://techport.nasa.gov/fetchFile?objectId=3448
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash a4555ba90bc1c86074ec44bcbd2da331f1275b5f21fc6afdb088df0a6daf36db
Source Schema Version 1.1
Temporal 2010-10-01T00:00:00Z/2013-09-01T00:00:00Z

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