Abstract
Arcus, a Medium Explorer (MIDEX) mission, was selected by NASA for a
Phase A study in August 2017. The observatory provides high-resolution
soft X-ray spectroscopy in the 12-50Å bandpass with unprecedented
sensitivity: effective areas of >450 cm2 and spectral
resolution >2500. The Arcus key science goals are (1) to measure the
effects of structure formation imprinted upon the hot baryons that are
predicted to lie in extended halos around galaxies, groups, and
clusters, (2) to trace the propagation of outflowing mass, energy, and
momentum from the vicinity of the black hole to extragalactic scales as
a measure of their feedback and (3) to explore how stars, circumstellar
disks and exoplanet atmospheres form and evolve. Arcus relies upon the
same 12m focal length grazing-incidence silicon pore X-ray optics (SPO)
that ESA has developed for the Athena mission; the focal length is
achieved on orbit via an extendable optical bench. The focused X-rays
from these optics are diffracted by high-efficiency Critical-Angle
Transmission (CAT) gratings, and the results are imaged with
flight-proven CCD detectors and electronics. The power and telemetry
requirements on the spacecraft are modest. Mission operations are
straightforward, as most observations will be long ( 100 ksec),
uninterrupted, and pre-planned, although there will be capabilities to
observe sources such as tidal disruption events or supernovae with a 3
day turnaround. Following the 2nd year of operation, Arcus will
transition to a proposal-driven guest observatory facility.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | 103970Q |
Journal | Proceedings of SPIE |
Volume | 0397 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01 Aug 2017 |