Naomichi Kikuchi

First peek of ASTRO-H Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) in-orbit performance

ASTRO-H (Hitomi) is a Japanese X-ray astrophysics satellite just launched in February, 2016, from Tanegashima, Japan by a JAXAs H-IIA launch vehicle. It has two Soft X-ray Telescopes (SXTs), among other instruments, that were developed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in collaboration with ISAS/JAXA and Nagoya University. One is for an X-ray micro-calorimeter instrument (Soft X-ray Spectrometer, SXS) and the other for an X-ray CCD camera (Soft X-ray Imager, SXI), both covering the X-ray energy band up to 15 keV. The two SXTs were fully characterized at the 30-m X-ray beamline at ISAS/JAXA. The combined SXT+SXS system effective area is about 250 and 300 cm2 at 1 and 6 keV, respectively, although observations were performed with the gate valve at the dewar entrance closed, which blocks most of low energy X-rays and some of high energy ones. The angular resolution for SXS is 1.2 arcmin (Half Power Diameter, HPD). The combined SXT+SXI system effective area is about 370 and 350 cm2 at 1 and 6 keV, respectively. The angular resolution for SXI is 1.3 arcmin (HPD). The both SXTs have a field of view of about 16 arcmin (FWHM of their vignetting functions). The SXT+SXS field of view is limited to 3 x 3 arcmin by the SXS array size. In-flight data available to the SXT team was limited at the time of this conference and a point-like source data is not available for the SXT+SXS. Although due to lack of attitude information we were unable to reconstruct a point spread function of SXT+SXI, according to RXJ1856.5-3754 data, the SXT seems to be working as expected in terms of imaging capability. As for the overall effective area response for both SXT+SXS and SXT+SXI, consistent spectral model fitting parameters with the previous measurements were obtained for Crab and G21.5-0.9 data. On the other hand, their 2-10 keV fluxes differ by about 20% at this point. Calibration work is still under progress. The SXT is the latest version of the aluminum foil X-ray mirror, which is extremely light-weight and very low cost, yet produces large effective area over a wide energy-band. Its area-mass ratio is the largest, 16 cm2/kg, among ASTRO-H, Chandra, and XMM-Newton mirrors. The aluminum foil mirror is a still compelling technology depending on the mission science goal.

In-flight verification of the calibration and performance of the ASTRO-H (Hitomi) Soft X-Ray Spectrometer

The Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) onboard the Astro-H (Hitomi) orbiting x-ray observatory featured an array of 36 silicon thermistor x-ray calorimeters optimized to perform high spectral resolution x-ray imaging spectroscopy of astrophysical sources in the 0.3-12 keV band. Extensive pre- flight calibration measurements are the basis for our modeling of the pulse-height-energy relation and energy resolution for each pixel and event grade, telescope collecting area, detector efficiency, and pulse arrival time. Because of the early termination of mission operations, we needed to extract the maximum information from observations performed only days into the mission when the onboard calibration sources had not yet been commissioned and the dewar was still coming into thermal equilibrium, so our technique for reconstructing the per-pixel time-dependent pulse-height-energy relation had to be modified. The gain scale was reconstructed using a combination of an absolute energy scale calibration at a single time using a fiducial from an onboard radioactive source, and calibration of a dominant time-dependent gain drift component using a dedicated calibration pixel, as well as a residual time-dependent variation using spectra from the Perseus cluster of galaxies. The energy resolution was also measured using the onboard radioactive sources. It is consistent with instrument-level measurements accounting for the modest increase in noise due to spacecraft systems interference. We use observations of two pulsars to validate our models of the telescope area and detector efficiency, and to derive a more accurate value for the thickness of the gate valve Be window, which had not been opened by the time mission operations ceased. We use observations of the Crab pulsar to refine the pixel-to-pixel timing and validate the absolute timing.

Examining the Angular Resolution of the Astro-H's Soft X-Ray Telescopes

Abstract. The international x-ray observatory ASTRO-H was renamed “Hitomi” after launch. It covers a wide energy range from a few hundred eV to 600 keV. It is equipped with two soft x-ray telescopes (SXTs: SXT-I and SXT-S) for imaging the soft x-ray sky up to ∼12  keV, which focus an image onto the respective focal-plane detectors: CCD camera (SXI) and a calorimeter (SXS). The SXTs are fabricated in a quadrant unit. The angular resolution in half-power diameter (HPD) of each quadrant of the SXTs ranges between 1.1 and 1.4 arc min at 4.51 keV. It was also found that one quadrant has an energy dependence on the HPD. We examine the angular resolution with “spot scan” measurements. In order to understand the cause of imaging capability deterioration and to reflect it to the future telescope development, we carried out spot scan measurements, in which we illuminate all over the aperture of each quadrant with a square beam 8 mm on a side. Based on the scan results, we made “maps” of image blurring and a focus position. The former and the latter reflect figure error and positioning error, respectively, of the foils that are within the incident 8  mm×8  mm beam. As a result, we estimated those errors in a quadrant to be ∼0.9 to 1.0 and ∼0.6 to 0.9 arc min, respectively. We found that the larger the positioning error in a quadrant is, the larger its HPD is. The HPD map, which manifests the local image blurring, is very similar from quadrant to quadrant, but the map of the focus position is different from location to location in each telescope. It is also found that the difference in local performance causes energy dependence of the HPD.

Upgrade of the 30-m x-ray pencil beam line at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

Abstract. The 30-m x-ray pencil beam line at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science has been upgraded. The vacuum chamber has been replaced by a new cylindrical chamber of diameter 1.8 m and length 11.3 m. Stages on which a telescope and detectors had been mounted were also replaced. At the same time, a new charge-coupled device consisting of 1240×1152  pixels of size 22.5×22.5  μm2 was introduced. The detector stage can be moved along the x-ray beam in the vacuum chamber, which enables us to vary the distance between the sample and the detectors from 0.7 to 9 m. The two stages can be moved in a square region 500×500  mm2 in the plane normal to the x-ray beam. The pitching of moving axes of Y direction (horizontal and normal to the beam) of the sample and the detector stages is somewhat large, but does not exceed 60 arc sec. The pitching of the other axes and the yawing of all the axes are less than 30 arc sec. As for rolling, we could obtain only the upper limits because of the difficulty in measuring them. The upper limit of the Z direction (vertical and normal to the beam) of the detector stage moving axis is somewhat large and is about 60 arc sec, and those of the other axes are less than 30 arc sec. A summary of the beam line performance is presented. Soon after the upgrade, the ASTRO-H Soft X-ray telescopes were calibrated in this beam line.

Atomic scattering factor of the ASTRO-H (Hitomi) SXT reflector around the gold's L edges.

The atomic scattering factor in the energy range of 11.2-15.4 keV for the ASTRO-H Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT) is reported. The large effective area of the SXT makes use of photon spectra above 10 keV viable, unlike most other X-ray satellites with total-reflection mirror optics. Presence of golds L-edges in the energy band is a major issue, as it complicates the function of the effective area. In order to model the area, the reflectivity measurements in the 11.2-15.4 keV band with the energy pitch of 0.4 - 0.7 eV were made in the synchrotron beam-line Spring-8 BL01B1. We obtained atomic scattering factors f1 and f2 by the curve fitting to the reflectivities of our witness sample. The edges associated with the L-I, II, and III transitions are identified, of which the depths are found to be roughly 60% shallower than those expected from the Henkes atomic scattering factor.

Revealing a detailed performance of the soft x-ray telescopes of the ASTRO-H mission

The international X-ray observatory, ASTRO-H is currently planed as launched in 2015. The ASTRO-H mission covers a wide energy range from a few hundreds eV to 600 keV. The two Soft X-ray Telescopes (SXT- 1 and SXT-2) play a role to image the soft X-ray sky up to ~12 keV in that range. Each of them focuses an image on the focal plane detectors of the CCD camera (SXI) and the calorimeter (SXS-XCS), respectively. In this paper, we present spot scan measurements of the two SXTs. The spot scan fully illuminates the telescope by mapping with the 8 mm by 8 mm beam and creates the ”maps” of the half power diameter (HPD) and the focal location of the focused image. We found variations of performance at local area of the telescope. Each of the spot images has different focal-location and different HPD. Moreover, we found that the map of the HPD is very similar from quadrant to quadrant, but the map of the focal location is different from quadrant to quadrant, from radius to radius, and from azimuthal angle to angle.

Ground-Based X-Ray Calibration of the Astro-H/Hitomi Soft X-Ray Telescopes

Abstract. We present the summary of the on-ground calibration of two soft x-ray telescopes (SXT-I and SXT-S), developed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), onboard Astro-H/Hitomi. After the initial x-ray measurements with a diverging beam at the GSFC 100-m beamline, we performed the full calibration of the x-ray performance, using the 30-m x-ray beamline facility at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Japan. We adopted a raster scan method with a narrow x-ray pencil beam with a divergence of ∼15″. The on-axis effective area (EA), half-power diameter, and vignetting function were measured at several energies between 1.5 and 17.5 keV. The detailed results appear in tables and figures in this paper. We measured and evaluated the performance of the SXT-S and the SXT-I with regard to the detector-limited field-of-view and the pixel size of the paired flight detector, i.e., SXS and the SXI, respectively. The primary items measured are the EA, image quality, and stray light for on-axis and off-axis sources. The accurate measurement of these parameters is vital to make the precise response function of the ASTRO-H SXTs. This paper presents the definitive results of the ground-based calibration of the ASTRO-H SXTs.

Reflectivity Around the Gold L-Edges of X-Ray Reflector of the Soft X-Ray Telescope Onboard ASTRO-H

The X-ray astronomy satellite ASTRO-H are equipped with two equivalent soft X-ray telescopes (SXT-I and SXT-S) which cover the energy band 0.3{12 keV. The X-ray reflectors of the SXTs are coated with a gold monolayer by means of the replication technique (Okajima et al. in this volume). A series of gold M absorption edges in the 2-4 keV band causes complex structures in the energy response of the SXTs. In the same band, there are astrophysically important emission lines from Si, Ar and S. Since the SXS has unprecedentedly high spectral resolution, we have measured the reflectivity around the gold M-edges in an extremely fine energy pitch at the synchrotron radiation facility KEK PF BL11-B, with the 2 eV pitch in 2100 eV to 4100 eV band that covers the entire series of the absorption edges (M-I through M-V) at grazing incident angles to the reflectors of 0.5, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4 degree, and with a finer pitch of 0.25 eV in the 2200 eV to 2350 eV band where the two deepest M-IV and M-V edges are included. In the resultant reflectivity curves, we have clearly identified the fine structures associated with all the M-edges. Using these data, we calculated atomic scattering factor f1 as a function of X-ray energy, with which we have built the mirror response function which can be applied to the Suzaku spectra. As a result, we have found that discrepancy of the spectral model to the Suzaku data of 4U1630-472 (a black hole transient) and the Crab nebula around the M-edges are significantly reduced from those with the official Suzaku response.

Point spread function of ASTRO-H Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT)

ASTRO-H (Hitomi) satellite equips two Soft X-ray Telescopes (SXTs), one of which (SXT-S) is coupled to Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) while the other (SXT-I) is coupled to Soft X-ray Imager (SXI). Although SXTs are lightweight of ~42 kgmodule-1 and have large on-axis effective area (EA) of ~450 cm2 at 4.5 keV module-1 by themselves, their angular resolutions are moderate ~1.2 arcmin in half power diameter. The amount of contamination into the SXS FOV (3.05 x 3.05 arcmin2) from nearby sources was measured in the ground-based calibration at the beamline in Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. The contamination at 4.5 keV were measured with sources distant from the SXS center by one width of the FOV in perpendicular and diagonal directions, that is, 3 and 4.5 arcmin-off, respectively. The average EA of the contamination in the four directions with the 3 and 4.5 arcmin-off were measured to be 2 and 0.6% of the on-axis EA of 412 cm2 for the SXS FOV, respectively. The contamination from a source distant by two FOV widths in a diagonal direction, that is, 8.6 arcmin-off was measured to be 0.1% of the on-axis at 4.5 keV. The contamination amounts were also measured at 1.5 keV and 8.0 keV which indicated that the ratio of the contamination EA to that of on-axis hardly depended on the source energy. The off-axis SXT-I images from -4.5 to 27 arcmin were acquired at intervals of 4.5 arcmin for the SXI FOV of 38 x 38 arcmin2. The image shrinked as the off-axis angle increased. Above 13.5 arcmin of off-angle, a stray appeared around the image center in the off-axis direction. As for the on-axis image, a ring-shaped stray appeared at the edge of SXI of ~18 arcmin distant from the image center.

Upgrade of the thirty-meter x-ray pencil beam line at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science

The thirty-meter X-ray pencil beam line at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) was utilized for ground-based calibrations of X-ray telescopes (XRTs) onboard the ASTRO-D, the ASTRO-E and the ASTRO- E2 satellites. Recent upsizing or downsizing of XRT required upgrade of the ISAS beam line. We replaced a vacuum chamber in which the stages had been installed by a new cylindrical chamber whose diameter and length are 1.8 m and 11.3 m, respectively. Stages on which a telescope and detectors had been mounted were also replaced. At same time, a new CCD consists of 1240×1152 pixels whose size are 22.5×22.5 μm was introduced. The detector stage can be moved along the X-ray beam in the vacuum chamber, which allows us to change the distance between the sample and the detectors from 0.7 m to 9 m. The two stages can move in at least 500×500 mm2 of square in the plane normal to the X-ray beam. The pitching of some moving axes are measured at 60 arcsec at most. The others are no more than about 30 arcsec. From April 2013, the ASTRO-H Soft X-ray telescopes (SXTs) have been calibrated at the new ISAS beam line.