Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2011-07-05
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Accepted for publication in Experimental Astronomy, 16 pages, 10 figures
Scientific paper
GRAVITAS is an X-ray observatory, designed and optimised to address the ESA Cosmic Vision theme of "Matter under extreme conditions". It was submitted as a response to the call for M3 mission proposals. The concept centres around an X-ray telescope of unprecedented effective area, which will focus radiation emitted from close to the event horizon of black holes or the surface of neutron stars. To reveal the nature and behaviour of matter in the most extreme astrophysical environments, GRAVITAS targets a key feature in the X-ray spectra of compact objects: the iron Kalpha line at ~6.5 keV. The energy, profile, and variability of this emission line, and the properties of the surrounding continuum emission, shaped by General Relativity (GR) effects, provide a unique probe of gravity in its strong field limit. Among its prime targets are hundreds of supermassive black holes in bright Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), which form the perfect laboratory to help understand the physical processes behind black hole growth. Accretion plays a fundamental role in the shaping of galaxies throughout cosmic time, via the process of feedback. Modest (~sub-arcmin) spatial resolution would deliver the necessary sensitivity to extend high quality X-ray spectroscopy of AGN to cosmologically-relevant distances. Closer to home, ultra-high count rate capabilities and sub-millisecond time resolution enable the study of GR effects and the equation of state of dense matter in the brightest X-ray binaries in our own Galaxy, using multiple probes, such as the broad iron line, the shape of the disk continuum emission, quasi-periodic oscillations, reverberation mapping, and X-ray burst oscillations. Despite its breakthrough capabilities, all enabling technologies for GRAVITAS are already in a high state of readiness. It is based on ultra light-weight X-ray optics and a focal plane detector using silicon technology.
Barret Didier
Fabian Andy
GRAVITAS consortium on behalf of the former
Jonker Peter
Kunieda Hideyo
No associations
LandOfFree
GRAVITAS : General Relativistic Astrophysics VIa Timing And Spectroscopy: An ESA M3 mission proposal does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with GRAVITAS : General Relativistic Astrophysics VIa Timing And Spectroscopy: An ESA M3 mission proposal, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and GRAVITAS : General Relativistic Astrophysics VIa Timing And Spectroscopy: An ESA M3 mission proposal will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-478036