1. XIPE, the X-ray imaging polarimetry explorer: Opening a new window in the X-ray sky
- Author
-
Paolo Soffitta
- Subjects
Physics ,Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,High-energy astronomy ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Detector ,Vega ,Polarimetry ,Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,010309 optics ,Crab Nebula ,Sky ,Observatory ,0103 physical sciences ,Focal length ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Instrumentation ,media_common - Abstract
XIPE, the X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer, is a candidate ESA fourth medium size mission, now in competitive phase A, aimed at time-spectrally-spatially-resolved X-ray polarimetry of a large number of celestial sources as a breakthrough in high energy astrophysics and fundamental physics. Its payload consists of three X-ray optics with a total effective area larger than one XMM mirror but with a low mass and of three Gas Pixel Detectors at their focus. The focal length is 4 m and the whole satellite fits within the fairing of the Vega launcher without the need of an extendable bench. XIPE will be an observatory with 75% of the time devoted to a competitive guest observer program. Its consortium across Europe comprises Italy, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden Until today, thanks to a dedicated experiment that dates back to the ’70, only the Crab Nebula showed a non-zero polarization with large significance [1] in X-rays. XIPE, with its innovative detector, promises to make significative measurements on hundreds of celestial sources.
- Published
- 2017