Astro-H Status Rob Petre (NASA / GSFC)

US ASTRO-H Project Scientist

ASTRO-H

ASTRO-H will be a major international x-ray observatory. JAXA Mission with participation from NASA and ESA (through SRON)

Observing time will be made available to Japan, ESA and NASA communities.

Mass ~ 2500 kg Power ~ 3.5 kW (EOL) Length ~ 14 m (when fully deployed) Mission lifetime ~ 3 yr (required), 5 yr (goal) Launched on Japanese H-IIA from Tanegashima

2016, 550 km, circular, 31 deg Very broad band x-ray spectroscopy with high sensitivity.

ASTRO-HOverview

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Astro-H Objectives

Highresolu4onspectroscopywithX-RayMicrocalorimeterHardX-rayfocusingimagingHighsensi4vewide-bandspectroscopy(0.3-600keV)

Revealingthelarge-scalestructureanditsevolu4onoftheUniverseUnderstandingtheextremecondi4onsintheUniverseExploringthediversephenomenaofthenon-thermalUniverseElucida4ngdarkmaLeranddarkenergy

Scien4ficobjec4ves:

Keyfeatures:

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4

SoQX-raySpectrometer

SoQX-rayTelescopes

HardX-rayTelescopes

SoQX-rayImager

ExtendibleOp4calBench

HardX-rayImagers

SoQGammaRayDetectors

ATourofAstro-H

Effec4veareaofASTRO-Himaginginstruments

1 101010

010

00

effe

ctiv

e ar

ea [c

m2 ]

energy [keV]

SXS (Calorimeter)

SXI (CCD)

2 HXI (CdTe+Si Strip)

ASTRO−H Total Effective Area

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SXSresolu4onduringpre-shipfunc4onaltest(October2015)

ASTRO-HarrivingatTanegashima

ASTRO-HScheduletoLaunch1/12–Mediaeventatlaunchsite1/18–Fillhydrazinetank1/21–LaunchReadinessReview1/23–Removenon-flightitems,finalvisualinspec4on1/24–ALachspacecraQtorocket1/25-28–ALachfairing1/27-KDP-EatNASAHQ2/2–BaLerycharging2/7–Opera4onalcheckofSXS;low-temperaturetop-offofLHe2/11–L1performancecheck2/12–Movetolaunchpointpoint2/12–Launch17:45JT(5:45EDT)

ASTRO-HPost-launchSchedule

L+~1week SXS“firstlight”L+~1week EOBdeploymentL+~1month Allinstrumentson

SXSgatevalveopen Begin2-monthcalibra4onphase

L+3months Begin6-monthPVobserva4onphaseL+9months BeginAO1

ASTRO-HGOProgram•  USscien4stshaveaccesstogenerousdatashare:~50percent

ofdata•  Cycle1announcementwillbereleasedonApril1,2016

–  PVtargetlistwillbereleasedbyannouncementdate–  USscien4stsonlyrespondtoNASAcall;scien4stsfromelsewhereproposetoeithersimultaneousESAorJAXAcall

•  ProposalswillbedueonJuly1,2016•  J/USmerginginOctober,2016•  Observa4onswillbegininmidNovember,2016•  Twostageproposalprocess–observing,budget•  TotalbudgetforCycle1is$5M(tocover50-100proposals)

ASTRO-HSpecialSessionatHEAD•  HEADmee4nginearlyApril:wewillknowthebasic

performanceoftheobservatoryandinstruments.•  Mee4ngcoincideswiththereleaseoftheCycle1callfor

proposals.•  Sessionprogram:

–  T.Takahashi(ISAS/JAXA)–OverviewofObservatoryproper4esandperformanceand(very)earlyresults

–  R.Kelley–(GSFC)OverviewofSXSproper4esandperformance–  K.Mukai(GSFC/CRESST)–Cycle1details