Speaker
Description
Current and planned X-ray telescopes have imaging resolutions on the order of arcseconds or worse, which exceeds the theoretical diffraction limit by four orders of magnitude. By leveraging a compact, single-spacecraft design, X-ray Interferometry (XRI) can achieve an EHT-like spatial resolution of tens of microarcseconds.
This enormous leap in resolution allows for direct imaging of stellar coronae from tens of parsecs, resolving X-ray binaries throughout our galaxy, and tracing AGN accretion disks and supermassive black hole binaries across the visible universe. We are developing a mission concept to unlock this remarkable potential: XRIstel, the X-ray Interferometric Space Telescope. Beyond the development of advanced technologies, which I will briefly describe, realizing an X-ray interferometer necessitates a new type of science simulator that is crucial to develop a detailed science case, set mission requirements, and empower the future XRI community. This new software, which will be publicly released shortly, enables users to generate and analyze X-ray interferometric data for simulated sources conforming to the SIMPUT file format. Here, I will introduce the simulator and present initial case studies for XRIstel.
| Talk category | Plenary |
|---|---|
| Second preference | NOVA Network 3 |
| PhD relevance | 1st |
