U.S.-Japan Cooperative Research: Development of an X-ray Detection System for an X-ray Astronomy Satellite

该奖项将使麻省理工学院的George R. Ricker教授和同事能够在两年的时间内与日本空间和航天科学研究所的田中康夫教授和同事进行合作。它们将合作研制和测试一种x射线电荷耦合器件照相机，作为计划于1993年初发射的日本x射线天文任务Astro-D的x射线成像光谱仪的一部分。银河系和河外源的x射线光谱测量计划用于Astro-D任务，其能量分辨率以前未达到。遥远的活动星系核、类星体和超新星SN1987A的遗迹都在研究对象之列。对于选定的遥远天体，将进行x射线红移的精确测量，这些测量本身就很重要，同时也有助于确定天文学上有趣的光源，以进行互补的光学和射电天文学研究。美日在这一活动的科学方面的合作，包括在Astro-D中选择研究对象和在两国进行相关的地面观测，是该项目将寻求进一步发展的方向。这一结果有望在x射线天文学领域做出重大贡献。

This award will enable Prof. George R. Ricker and co-workers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to collaborate with Prof. Yasuo Tanaka and colleagues of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan, over a period of two years. They will cooperate in the development and testing of an X-ray charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to be included as part of an imaging X-ray spectrometer on the Japanese X-ray astronomy mission Astro-D, planned for launch in early 1993. X-ray spectroscopic measurements of galactic and extragalactic sources are planned for the Astro-D mission, with an energy resolution not previously attained. Distant active galactic nuclei, quasars, and the remnant of supernova SN1987A are among the objects to be studied. For selected distant objects, precise measurements of X-ray redshifts will be made, measurements that will be important in themselves and at the same time useful in identifying astronomically interesting sources for complementary optical and radio-astronomical investigations. It is the U.S.-Japanese cooperation in the scientific aspects of this activity, including selection of objects for study in Astro-D and in related ground-based observations in both countries, that this project will seek to further. The results are expected to make a significant contribution in the field of X-ray astronomy.