Optics developments for NewATHENA
With the endorsement of the NewAthena (New Advanced Telescope for High ENergy Astrophysics) mission by ESA’s Science Programme Committee in November 2023, the preparations for this next generation X-ray observatory have shifted to a higher gear. Competitive system studies and technology preparation activities are being implemented, aiming to demonstrate readiness for the mission adoption early 2027 and the subsequent mission implementation. <br/> <br/> The Silicon Pore Optics (SPO) enables the NewAthena mission, delivering an unprecedented combination of good angular resolution, large effective area and low mass. The SPO technology builds significantly on spin-in from the semiconductor industry and is designed to allow a cost-effective flight optics implementation, compliant with the programmatic requirements of the mission. <br/> <br/> The NewAthena X-ray optics is highly modular, consisting of hundreds of compact mirror modules arranged in concentric circles and mounted on a metallic optical bench. All aspects of the optics are being developed in parallel, from the industrial production of the mirror plates, over the highly efficient assembly into mirror modules, to the alignment of the mirror modules and their fixation on the optical bench. Dedicated facilities are being built to measure the performance of the NewAthena X-ray telescope optics, demonstrating their compatibility with the environmental and scientific requirements. <br/> <br/> An overview is provided of the activities preparing the implementation of the NewATHENA optics.
Authors
- Paul Lupton
- Dominique Heinis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2268-0364)
- Bart Schurink (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8332-9930)
- Dieter Skroblin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8197-2113)
- Sebastiaan Fransen
- Giuseppe Vacanti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1943-8152)
- Ronald Start
- Sara Svendsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8786-3690)
- R. Willingale
- A. Moretti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9770-0315)
- Marcos Bavdaz
- A. Sánchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5431-6989)
- Jeroen Haneveld
- Boris Landgraf
- Giovanni Pareschi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3967-403X)
- Desirée Della Monica Ferreira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4003-3256)
- Mark Olde Riekerink
- Stefano Basso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2342-5090)
- Eric Wille
- David Girou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1062-9390)
- Mirko Riede (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8612-2484)
- Michael Krumrey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9591-5462)
- Bianca Salmaso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8150-4846)
- Nicolas M. Barrière (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9407-9490)
- Sonny Massahi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5207-1554)
- Finn E. Christensen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5679-1946)
- Mark Ayre
- V. Burwitz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5330-5869)
- Maximilien J. Collon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2206-2133)
- Norman Niewrzella
- Pieter Smid
- Daniele Spiga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1163-7843)
- Ivo Ferreira
- Mikko Pasanen
- Diego Paredes-Sanz
- Carles Colldelram Peroliu
- Giuseppe Valsecchi
- Dervis Vernani
- Riccardo Bressan
- T. Korhonen
Institutions
- Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (DE)
- Brera Astronomical Observatory (IT)
- Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (DE)
- Teledyne e2v (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Micronit Microfluidics (Netherlands) (NL)
- Cosine (Netherlands) (NL)
- GEDI Gruppo Editoriale (Italy) (IT)
- DTU Space
- European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2024-08-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019059
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.99