Status of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)

The Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a joint US/German project, is a 2.5-m infrared airborne telescope carried by a Boeing 747-SP that flies in the stratosphere at altitudes as high as 45,000 ft (13.72 km). This facility is capable of observing from 0.3 μm to 1.6 mm with an average transmission greater than 80% averaged over all wavelengths. SOFIA will be staged out of the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center aircraft operations facility at Palmdale, CA. The SOFIA Science Mission Operations (SMO) will be located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA. First science flights began in 2010 and a full operations schedule of up to one hundred 8 to 10 hour-long flights per year will be reached by 2014. The observatory is expected to operate until the mid-2030s. SOFIA’s initial complement of seven focal plane instruments includes broadband imagers, moderate-resolution spectrographs that will resolve broad features due to dust and large molecules, and high-resolution spectrometers capable of studying the kinematics of atomic and molecular gas at sub-km/s resolution. We describe the SOFIA facility and outline the opportunities for observations by the general scientific community and for future instrumentation development. The operational characteristics of the SOFIA first-generation instruments are summarized. The status of the flight test program is discussed and we show First Light images obtained at wavelengths from 5.4 to 37 μm with the FORCAST imaging camera. Additional information about SOFIA is available at http://www.sofia.usra.edu and http://www.sofia.usra.edu/Science/docs/SofiaScienceVision051809-1.pdf.     

Debris Discs Around Stars: The 2004 ISO Legacy

Debris discs around stars were first discovered by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) in 1983. For the first time material orbiting another star than the Sun, but distinct from a circumstellar envelope, was observed through its far infrared emission. This major discovery motivated astronomers to investigate those discs by further analyzing the IRAS data, using ground-based telescopes for the hunting of exoplanets, developing several projects using the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO), and now exploiting the ISO Data Archive (IDA). This review presents the main ISO results, statistical as well as individual, on debris discs in orbit around pre-main-sequence and main-sequence stars. Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.     

Observations of compact X-ray binaries with the Chandra X-ray Observatory

The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched on July 23, 1999. The first X-ray photons were detected on August 12 of that same year. Subsequently observations with the Observatory, which features sub-arcsecond angular resolution, have revolutionized our understanding of the X-ray emitting sky providing hosts of spectacular energy-resolved images and high-resolution spectra. Here we present a brief overview of Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of compact X-ray binaries.     

Large light X-ray optics: basic ideas and concepts

One of the main guidelines for future X-ray astronomy projects like, e.g., XEUS (ESA) and Generation-X (NASA) is to utilize grazing-incidence focusing optics with extremely large telescopes (several tens of m² at 1 keV), with a dramatic increase in collecting area of about two order of magnitude compared to the current X-ray telescopes. In order to avoid the problem of the source's confusion limit at low fluxes, the angular resolution required for these optics should be superb (a few arcsec at most). The enormous mirror dimensions together with the high imaging performances give rise to a number of manufacturing problems. It is basically impossible to realize so large mirrors from closed Wolter I shells which benefit from high mechanical stiffness. Instead the mirrors need to be formed as rectangular segments and a series of them will be assembled in a petal. Taking into account the realistic load capabilities of space launchers, to be able to put in orbit so large mirror modules the mass/geometric-area ratio of the optics should be very small. Finally, with a so large optics mass it would be very difficult to provide the electric power for an optics thermal active control, able to maintain the mirrors at the usual temperature of 20 °C. Therefore, very likely, the optics will instead operate in extreme thermal conditions, with the mirror temperature oscillating between −30 and −40 °C, that tends to exclude the epoxy replication approach (the mismatch between the CTE of the substrate and that of the resin would cause prohibitively large deformations of the mirror surface profiles). From these considerations light weight materials with high thermal–mechanical properties such as glass or ceramics become attractive to realize the mirrors of future Xray telescopes. In this paper, we will discuss a segments manufacturing method based on Borofloat^TM glass. A series of finite element analysis concerning different aspects of the production, testing and integration of the optics are also presented as well.     

X-rays from the first massive black holes

X-ray studies of high-redshift (z > 4) active galaxies have advanced substantially over the past few years, largely due to results from the new generation of X-ray observatories. As of this writing X-ray emission has been detected from nearly 60 high-redshift active galaxies. This paper reviews the observational results and their implications for models of the first massive black holes, and it discusses future prospects for the field.     

Late stages of stellar evolution – Herschel’s contributions

Cool objects glow in the infrared. The gas and solid-state species that escape the stellar gravitational attraction of evolved late-type stars in the form of a stellar wind are cool, with temperatures typically ?1500 K, and can be ideally studied in the infrared. These stellar winds create huge extended circumstellar envelopes with extents approaching 10¹⁹${10}^{19}$ cm. In these envelopes, a complex kinematical, thermodynamical and chemical interplay determines the global and local structural parameters. Unraveling the wind acceleration mechanisms and deriving the complicated structure of the envelopes is important to understand the late stages of evolution of ∼97% of stars in galaxies as our own Milky Way. That way, we can also assess the significant chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium by the mass loss of these evolved stars. The Herschel Space Observatory is uniquely placed to study evolved stars thanks to the excellent capabilities of the three infrared and sub-millimeter instruments on board: PACS, SPIRE and HIFI. In this review, I give an overview of a few important results obtained during the first two years of Herschel observations in the field of evolved low and intermediate mass stars, and I will show how the Herschel observations can solve some historical questions on these late stages of stellar evolution, but also add some new ones.     

Dark Matter Particle Explorer:The First Chinese Cosmic Ray and Hard γ-ray Detector in Space

The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) mission is one of the five scientific space science missions within the framework of the Strategic Pioneer Program on Space Science of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) approved in 2011. The main scientific objective of DAMPE is to detect electrons and photons in the range of 5GeV-10TeV with unprecedented energy resolution (1.5% at 100GeV) in order to identify possible Dark Matter (DM) signatures. It will also measure the flux of nuclei up to above 500TeV with excellent energy resolution (40% at 800GeV), which will bring new insights to the origin and propagation high energy cosmic rays. With its excellent photon detection capability, the DAMPE mission is well placed for new discoveries in high energy-ray astronomy as well.      

中国空间天文40周年

过去40年中国空间天文学研究取得了巨大的发展.尤其是近10年内发射了数颗天文卫星,未来几年还将有一些天文卫星计划发射.本文简要回顾了国际空间天文学的发展历程.对中国空间天文学过去40年的发展进行了回顾和总结,包括1970年代第一颗天文卫星计划、气球空间天文探测、基于载人航天工程的空间天文实验以及天文卫星等.此外,介绍了...     

The Radio Observatory on the Lunar Surface for Solar studies

The Radio Observatory on the Lunar Surface for Solar studies (ROLSS) is a concept for a near-side low radio frequency imaging interferometric array designed to study particle acceleration at the Sun and in the inner heliosphere. The prime science mission is to image the radio emission generated by Type II and III solar radio burst processes with the aim of determining the sites at and mechanisms by which the radiating particles are accelerated. Specific questions to be addressed include the following: (1) Isolating the sites of electron acceleration responsible for Type II and III solar radio bursts during coronal mass ejections (CMEs); and (2) Determining if and the mechanism(s) by which multiple, successive CMEs produce unusually efficient particle acceleration and intense radio emission. Secondary science goals include constraining the density of the lunar ionosphere by searching for a low radio frequency cutoff to solar radio emission and constraining the low energy electron population in astrophysical sources. Key design requirements on ROLSS include the operational frequency and angular resolution. The electron densities in the solar corona and inner heliosphere are such that the relevant emission occurs at frequencies below 10 MHz. Second, resolving the potential sites of particle acceleration requires an instrument with an angular resolution of at least 2°, equivalent to a linear array size of approximately 1000 m. Operations would consist of data acquisition during the lunar day, with regular data downlinks. No operations would occur during lunar night.