The Large Area Detector of LOFT: the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing

0481981 - ASÚ 2018 RIV US eng C - Conference Paper (international conference)
Zane, S. - Walton, D. J. - Kennedy, T. - Feroci, M. - den Herder, J.W. - Ahangarianabhari, M. - Argan, A. - Azzarello, P. - Baldazzi, G. - Barbera, M. - Hudec, René … Total 59 authors
The Large Area Detector of LOFT: the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing.
Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. Bellingham: SPIE, 2014, 91442W/1-91442W/19. Proceedings of SPIE, 9144. ISBN 9780819496126. ISSN 0277-786X.
[Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014. Montreal (CA), 22.06.2014-26.06.2014]
Institutional support: RVO:67985815
Keywords : X-ray * timing * compact objects
OECD category: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)

LOFT (Large Observatory for X-ray Timing) is one of the five candidates that were considered by ESA as an M3 mission (with launch in 2022-2024) and has been studied during an extensive assessment phase. It is specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black holes and neutron stars. Its pointed instrument is the Large Area Detector (LAD), a 10 m(2)-class instrument operating in the 2-30keV range, which holds the capability to revolutionise studies of variability from X-ray sources on the millisecond time scales. The LAD instrument has now completed the assessment phase but was not down-selected for launch. However, during the assessment, most of the trade-offs have been closed leading to a robust and well documented design that will be re-proposed in future ESA calls. In this talk, we will summarize the characteristics of the LAD design and give an overview of the expectations for the instrument capabilities.

Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0277401