NSF-CGP Science Fellowship Program: Studies of the X-Ray Emission from SuperNova Remnants and Clusters of Galaxies

该奖项将支持位于马萨诸塞州剑桥市的美国史密森学会天体物理天文台高能天体物理部的John P. Hughes博士对日本进行为期六个月的访问，与京都大学物理系的Katsuji Koyama教授合作开展一个项目。研究人员还将与空间与航天科学研究所（ISAS）的科学家合作，该研究所位于东京郊外，是日本x射线天文学的“中心”。这项研究将根据预定于1993年2月发射的x射线天文卫星（ASTRO-D）所传送的资料。这颗卫星是美国和日本的一项合作任务，将是日本发射的一系列x射线卫星中的第四颗。该任务在硬x射线波段具有很高的成像和光谱能力。任务的第一阶段将专门用于性能验证和在轨校准活动。接下来将是对超新星残骸和星系团的研究和分析。这些数据提供的知识将对所有类型的天体物理源的性质和发射过程产生根本性的新见解。日本人在x射线天文学领域一直处于领先地位。休斯教授在x射线卫星的核查和校准方面具有专门知识，这对日本很有价值。他和美国科学界都将从尽早获得这些数据中受益。预计这些研究人员之间的合作将持续许多年。

This award will support a six month visit to Japan by Dr. John P. Hughes, High Energy Astrophysics Division, U.S. Smithsonian Institution Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts to carry out a collaborative project with Professor Katsuji Koyama, Department of Physics at Kyoto University. The researchers will also be cooperating with scientists at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), which is located outside Tokyo and serves as the "hub" for X-ray astronomy in Japan. The research will be based on information to be transmitted from the X-ray Astronomy Satellite (ASTRO-D) which is scheduled for launch in February l993. This satellite is a collaborative mission between the U.S. and Japan and will be the fourth in a series of X-ray satellites launched in Japan. This mission has high capability of imaging and spectroscopy in the hard X-ray band. The first phase of the mission will be devoted to performance verfication and on-orbit calibration activities. This will be followed by studies and analyses of supernova remnants and clusters of galaxies. Knowledge provided by this data will develop fundamental new insights into the nature and emission processes of all classes of astrophysical sources. The Japanese have been the leaders in this area of X-ray astronomy. Professor Hughes has expertise in the areas of verification and calibration of X-ray satellites which will be valuable to the Japanese. Both he and the U.S. scientific community will benefit from very early access to the data. It is anticipated that the collaboration developed between these researchers will continue for many years.