ART-XC
| Mission type | Space observatory |
|---|---|
| Operator |
Russia, Russian Space Research Institute Germany, German Aerospace Center |
| Mission duration | ≈ 7 years; until late 2026 to early 2027 (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Spektr-RG |
| Manufacturer | Russian Space Research Institute and All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Physics |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 13 July 2019, 12:31 UTC |
| Rocket | Proton-M |
| Launch site | Baikonur 45/1 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Second Lagrange point (L2) |
| Main | |
| Name | ART-XC |
| Type | Wolter-I |
| Wavelengths | X-rays |
The Astronomical Roentgen Telescope X-ray Concentrator (ART-XC) is an X-ray telescope with a grazing incidence mirror that is capable of capturing high energy X-ray photons within the 5-30 keV energy range. This telescope is one of the two X-ray telescopes on the Spektr-RG (SRG) mission. The other telescope that SRG carries is eROSITA. The observatory was launched on 13 July 2019 via a Proton rocket from the Russian launch site Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
Overview
ART-XC was developed by the Space Research Institute (IKI) and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental Physics (VNIIEF). The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has developed and fabricated flight models of the X-ray mirror systems. The ART-XC telescope consists of 7 identical mirror modules each made with 28 nickel-cobalt grazing-incidence mirrors. The mirror design is Wolter-I and is coated with iridium. Each module also has its own cadmium-tellurium double-sided strip detector. The typical on-axis half-power diameter of ART-XC is 27 to 34 arcsec, while the effective area of each module is 65 cm2 (both were estimated at 8 keV). The field of view for each module is about 36′ in diameter.
ART-XC will survey the entire sky every six months, and the planned all-sky survey will be completed in the first four years of the mission.
First light
Roscosmos published the first light image of ART-XC, which was taken on July 30, 2019. The image shows the source Centaurus X-3 imaged with the 7 telescopes, as well as the light curve of the pulsar folded at its pulse period of 4.8s.
Instruments
| eROSITA | ART-XC | |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation | Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics | IKI / VNIIEF |
| Telescope type | Wolter | Wolter |
| Wavelength | X-ray | X-ray |
| Mass | 810 kg | 350 kg |
| Sensitivity range | 0.3 - 10 keV | 6 - 30 keV |
| View angle | 1 degree | 30 arcminutes |
| Angular resolution | 15 arcseconds | 45 arcseconds |
| Sensor area | 2,400 cm2/ 1 keV | 450 cm2/ 8 keV |