Astronomy and Astrophysics Seminars

"CubeWATCH” - an all sky monitor for a microsatellite

by Prof. Niels Lund, Emeritus Scientist (DTU Space, Denmark)

Tuesday, September 30, 2014 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at TIFR ( DAA Seminar Room (A269) )
Description
Due to the variability of the X-ray sky it is desirable to maintain continuous monitoring capability – even with small instruments. The recent development of the Silicon Drift Detector as an X-ray detector for space use has opened the possibility to recreate the WATCH wide field telescope as a low power, low weight instrument suitable for a microsatellite. The original WATCH weighed 12 kg and was flown successfully on the Russian “Granat” and ESA’s “EURECA” satellites. The modern “CubeWATCH” version will have the same sensitivity as the original WATCH, but will weigh less than 500 g. The design will be described.