Overview of the Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS)

Reynolds, Christopher S; Kara, Erin A; Mushotzky, Richard F; Ptak, Andrew; Koss, Michael J; Williams, Brian J; Allen, Steven W; Bauer, Franz E; Bautz, Marshall; Bodaghee, Arash; Burdge, Kevin B; Cappelluti, Nico; Cenko, Brad; Chartas, George; Chan, Kai-Wing; Corrales, Lía; Daylan, Tansu; Falcone, Abraham D; Foord, Adi; Grant, Catherine E; Habouzit, Mélanie; Haggard, Daryl; Herrmann, Sven; Hodges-Kluck, Edmund; Kargaltsev, Oleg; King, George W; Kounkel, Marina; Lopez, Laura A; Marchesi, Stefano; Mcdonald, Michael; Meyer, Eileen; Miller, Eric D; Nynka, Melania; Okajima, Takashi; Pacucci, Fabio; Russell, Helen R; Safi-Harb, Samar; Stassun, Keivan G; Trindade, Anna; Dd, Falcão; Walker, Stephen A; Wilms, Joern; Yukita, Mihoko; Zhang, William W

Abstract

The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) is a Probe-class concept that will build on the legacy of the Chandra X-ray Observatory by providing low-background, arcsecond-resolution imaging in the 0.3-10 keV band across a 450 arcminute 2 field of view, with an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity. AXIS utilizes breakthroughs in the construction of lightweight segmented X-ray optics using single-crystal silicon, and developments in the fabrication of large-format, small-pixel, high readout rate CCD detectors with good spectral resolution, allowing a robust and cost-effective design. Further, AXIS will be responsive to target-of-opportunity alerts and, with onboard transient detection, will be a powerful facility for studying the time-varying X-ray universe, following on from the legacy of the Neil Gehrels (Swift) X-ray observatory that revolutionized studies of the transient X-ray Universe. In this paper, we present an overview of AXIS, highlighting the prime science objectives driving the AXIS concept and how the observatory design will achieve these objectives.

• Journal Article Type: Conference Paper
• Conference Name: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2023
• Conference Location: San Diego, USA
• Acceptance Date: Oct 1, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Oct 5, 2023
• Publication Date: Oct 5, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jul 3, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 8, 2024
• Journal: Poceedings of SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering
• Print ISSN: 0277-786X
• Electronic ISSN: 1996-756
• Publisher: Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12678
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2677468
• Keywords: X-ray astronomy; X-ray optics; X-ray detectors; APEX Probe missions
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/36869532
• Publisher URL: https://www.spiedigitallibrary.org/conference-proceedings-of-spie/12678/2677468/Overview-of-the-advanced-x-ray-imaging-satellite-AXIS/10.1117/12.2677468.short