The Next Large X-ray Mission - Constellation-X
Harvey Tananbaum (Chandra X-ray Center; SAO)
The Constellation X-ray Mission will open a new
window on x-ray spectroscopy. Integrated over the 0.6-10 keV
energy band, Constellation-X will have 100 times the throughput
of the gratings aboard Chandra and XMM-Newton. The Constellation-X
resolving power will exceed 1250 from 0.3-1.0 keV and 2400 at6 keV.
A hard x-ray telescope will extend the bandpass of Constellation-X
upwards to at least 40 keV. Constellation-X will probe the physics
of extreme processes, events, and systems - where high temperatures,
intense gravity, strong magnetic fields and the like produce x-ray radiation.
This talk will present an overview of the mission configuration and the key
scientific components. The presentation will describe the breadth of anticipated
science such as: measurements of iron lines near event horizons to determine black
hole spin and test predictions of general relativity, measurements of turbulence in
clusters of galaxies via broadening of iron lines to determine the non-thermal energy
content of the clusters, determination of mass and radius for neutron stars with
x-ray bursts to limit possible equations of state for ultra-dense matter, measurement
of production of heavy elements from carbon to zinc in supernova explosions, measurement
of highly ionized oxygen in the warm interstellar medium, and studies of stellar coronae
via x-ray Doppler imaging.