Design, performance, and calibration of the ALEXIS ultrasoft x-ray telescopes

Jeffrey J. Bloch; Frank P. Ameduri; William C. Priedhorsky; Diane C. Roussel-Dupre; Barham W. Smith; Oswald H. W. Siegmund; Scott L. Cully; John K. Warren; Geoffrey A. Gaines

doi:10.1117/12.23248

1 November 1990 Design, performance, and calibration of the ALEXIS ultrasoft x-ray telescopes

Jeffrey J. Bloch, Frank P. Ameduri, William C. Priedhorsky, Diane C. Roussel-Dupre, Barham W. Smith, Oswald H. W. Siegmund, Scott L. Cully, John K. Warren, Geoffrey A. Gaines

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 1344, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.23248
Event: 34th Annual International Technical Symposium on Optical and Optoelectronic Applied Science and Engineering, 1990, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

The Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors (ALEXIS) experiment consists of six wide angle EUV/ultrasoft Xray telescopes utilizing normal incidence multilayer mirrors, flown on a miniature satellite to map out the sky in three narrow bandpasses around 66, 7 1, and 95eV.The 66 and 7 1 eV bandpasses are centered on intense Fe emission lines which are characteristic of million degree plasmas such as the one thought to produce the soft X-ray background. The 95eVbandpass has a higher throughput and is more sensitive to continuum sources. The mission will be launched into orbit on the Pegasus Air Launched Vehicle in mid-1991. We will present the details of the ALEXIS telescope optical design, initial characterizations of the first flight mirrors and detectors, and the current schemes for characterizing and calibrating the completed telescope assemblies. We will also discuss the details of a novel "wavetrap" feature incorporated into the multilayer mirror structure to greatly reduce the mirror's reflectivity at 304A, a major background contamination flux of He II emission from the geocorona.

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Jeffrey J. Bloch, Frank P. Ameduri, William C. Priedhorsky, Diane C. Roussel-Dupre, Barham W. Smith, Oswald H. W. Siegmund, Scott L. Cully, John K. Warren, and Geoffrey A. Gaines "Design, performance, and calibration of the ALEXIS ultrasoft x-ray telescopes", Proc. SPIE 1344, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy, (1 November 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.23248

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