Hard X-ray focusing optics up to 80 keV for the future missions

X-ray telescopes have been providing high sensitivity X-ray observations in numerous missions. For X-ray telescopes in the future, one of the key technologies is to expand the energy band beyond 10 keV. We designed depth-graded multilayer, so-called supermirrors, for a hard X-ray telescope in the energy band up to 40 keV using lightweight thin-foil optics. They were successfully flown in a balloon flight and obtained a hard X-ray image of Cyg X-1 in the 20–40 keV band. Now supermirrors are promising to realize a hard X-ray telescope. We have estimated the performance of a hard X-ray telescope using a platinum–carbon supermirror for future satellite missions, such as NeXT (Japan) and XEUS (Europe). According to calculations, they will have a significant effective area up to 80 keV, and their effective areas will be more than 280 cm² even at 60 keV. Limiting sensitivity will be down to 1.7 × 10⁻¹³ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹ in the 10–80 keV band at a 100 ks observation. In this paper, we present the results of the balloon experiment with the first supermirror flown and projected effective areas of hard X-ray telescopes and action items for future missions.     

Polarization effects in radiation from compact X-ray sources

The theory of polarization effects in radiation from compact X-ray sources is presented. The following four problems are considered: 1) the polarization of X-rays from the magnetized neutron stars; 2) the polarization of X-rays from the accretion disk around a black hole; 3) the optical polarization from X-ray binaries, and 4) the results of X-ray polarimetric observations.     

Plans for submillimetre and infrared satellites in Japan

I describe plans for submillimetre and infrared satellites which are now under discussion among Japanese infrared and millimetre astronomers. We propose a submillimetre and/or infrared mission to be launched around 2000 with a main reflector 1–2 m in diameter and cooled down to 50–150 K. This mission, although a small one, will be able to contribute significantly to the advance in submillimetre and infrared astronomy if its role is specified for suitable purposes like surveys.     

基于不同天文标准计算地球引力对卫星轨道的影响

建立了一个考虑地球非球形引力摄动的卫星轨道摄动模型并用C＋＋语言编写程序进行轨道计算,其积分器采用Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg7（8）。建模过程中,对岁差、章动等量的计算分别考虑了美国海军天文台1981年和2005年的两种天文标准。通过与STK对比,发现无论采用哪一种标准,轨道传播两天后的位置误差都不会超过分米量级,速度误差不会超过毫米每秒的量级。说明了建模和编程计算的合理性,以及采用新旧两种天文标准计算卫星轨道的差别甚小。     

Infrared space studies of Solar-System objects: The post-ISO era

The ISO mission is expected to allow significant progress in the study of Solar-System objects, especially concerning planetary and cometary atmospheres. Beyond ISO, future Solar-System studies using infrared space missions will require an extension of the spectral coverage toward longer wavelengths and increased spatial capabilities for imaging spectroscopy.     

空间低频射电天文天线材质-观测性能分析

15MHz以下的射电天文信号由于受到电离层的阻挡只能通过空间卫星平台进行观测。采用空间展开的电小天线是目前普遍的做法。就电小天线的材质-接收性能方面进行分析，构建了基于材质磁导率、电导率对后端接收机噪声影响模型。通过计算结果比对和就天线材质空间展开难易程度的综合考虑，归纳总结了不同材质对空间低频射电天文观测噪声影响以及展开难度，为新天线的研制提供了数据依据。该项工作将为下一步L1点空间天气监测卫星中的太阳射电观测载荷提供技术支持。