Line Emission Mapper: an X-ray probe mission concept to study the cosmic ecosystems and the physics of galaxy formation

Patnaude, Daniel J.; Kraft, Ralph P.; Kilbourne, Caroline; Bandler, Simon; Bogdan, Akos; Cumbee, Renata; Eckart, Megan; Garraffo, Cecilia; Hodges-Kluck, Edmund; Kelley, Richard; Markevitch, Maxim; Ogorzalek, Anna; Plucinsky, Paul; Porter, Frederick Scott; ZuHone, John; Zhuravleva, Irina; Drake, Jeremy; Leutenegger, Maurice; Kenyon, Steve; Smith, Stephen; Zhang, Will; DePalo, Steve; Li, Xiaoyi; Williams, Nathan; Amatucci, Edward; Houston, Janice; Apostolou, Deme; Kanner, Hugh; Coderre, Kathleen; Hayden, Isaac; Martin, Kyle; Osborne, Elizabeth; Olson, Jeffery; Ramm, Steven; Richardson, Scott

doi:10.1117/1.jatis.9.4.041008

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…In the “general observer” (GO) phase, optically bright stars and solar system objects will be high-interest targets. The nominal energy resolution of the central area of the LEM microcalorimeter is ∼1 eV, 2 representing a resolving power E/ΔE of ∼1000. This is similar to that afforded by the Chandra Medium Energy transmission grating although with an effective area up to two orders of magnitude larger 3 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…The slated detector for the X-ray Line Emission Mapper (LEM) Probe mission concept is a transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeter array comprising 13,806 pixels in a hexagonal arrangement 1 , 2 . This instrument is described in detail in other articles in the JATIS Special Section on the Line Emission Mapper X-ray Observatory, to which the reader is referred for further details of its design and operation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extending the high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of Line Emission Mapper to UV/optically-bright sources

Drake,

Bandler,

Barbera

et al. 2024

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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The Line Emission Mapper X-ray Probe-class mission concept is based on a microcalorimeter array tuned to energies in the range 0.1 to 2 keV. The study of cosmic ecosystems defines the directed portion of the Line Emission Mapper (LEM) mission, thus LEM has been optimized for observations of diffuse X-ray-emitting gas, largely with very low surface brightness. To broaden the range of targets that general observers can study with LEM, we have investigated the particular needs for UV/optical bright stars and solar-system objects. X-ray microcalorimeters are susceptible to degraded energy resolution that can result from thermal noise from residual UV, optical, and IR radiation. Using the present baseline design of the microcalorimeter thermal filters, we compute the UV-IR loading expected from bright stars over the effective temperature range 3500 to 39,000 K and from solar-system objects. The dominant leak of out-of-band energy is in the far-UV around 1500 Å, with a secondary peak of throughput around 4000 Å. For stars with magnitudes V < 10 and for all solar-system planets as well as the Moon, the loading is significant, indicating that additional UV/optical blocking is essential if bright objects are to be observed. We have investigated the efficacy of several filter options for opticalblocking filters on the LEM filter wheel, demonstrating that new technology development is not necessary to open up many of these classes of objects to investigation with the high spectral resolution of LEM.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending the high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of Line Emission Mapper to UV/optically-bright sources

Drake,

Bandler,

Barbera

et al. 2024

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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Line emission mapper cryogenic system design

Osborne,

Olson,

Jacoby

et al. 2023

J. Astron. Telesc. Instrum. Syst.

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The line emission mapper x-ray microcalorimeter instrument requires a 4 K cryogenic system to precool a continuous adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator enabling high-resolution x-ray spectroscopy. The cryogenic system described in this work provides the required structural and thermal environments using mature cooling and structural technologies. The system is comprised of a dewar design based on heritage manufacturing processes and an efficient four-stage pulse tube cryocooler with supporting control electronics.

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The Line Emission Mapper (LEM): mission and science operations

Plucinsky,

Martin,

DePalo

et al. 2024

Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

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The Line Emission Mapper (LEM) is a Probe mission concept developed in response to NASA's Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX) Announcement of Opportunity. The LEM project is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and Lockheed Martin (LM). LEM is a large field of view (30 ′ equivalent diameter), soft X-ray mission (0.2-2.0 keV bandpass) with a large format microcalorimeter X-ray imaging spectrometer in the focal plane (1.3-2.5 eV spectral resolution) that provides unprecedented grasp (the product of effective area times field of view) in this bandpass. LEM's sensitivity to diffuse X-ray emission will be orders of magnitude higher than existing or proposed missions. LEM's primary science will characterize the diffuse gas in the X-ray haloes in galaxies, the outskirts of galaxy clusters and the filamentary structures between these clusters, and in the Milky Way star formation regions and Galactic halo, and Galactic and Local Group supernova remnants. To accomplish these objectives, the LEM spacecraft and mission have been designed to perform long observations of relatively faint objects and to perform an All-Sky Survey. The science payload consists of a single X-ray mirror assembly and a single focal plane instrument, the microcalorimeter operating at a temperature of 40 mK. The LEM spacecraft is a high-heritage, low-risk design that meets or exceeds all requirements, in particular the thermal requirements for the calorimeter, electronics, and mirror. The science mission profile supports high observing efficiency (> 90%), large sky coverage (45 − 150 • field of regard), and flexible operations that maximize the science return. LEM mission and science operations follow the same successful approaches used by LM for 16 NASA missions and by SAO for 24 years of successful operation of a NASA Great Observatory, the Chandra X-ray Observatory. With multiple decades of experience developing and maintaining the Chandra X-Ray Center Data System, the LEM team will develop the software to produce and disseminate high-quality data to the entire astronomical community. In this paper, we discuss the design of the mission and spacecraft operations that supports the transformational science that LEM promises to deliver.

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Line Emission Mapper: an X-ray probe mission concept to study the cosmic ecosystems and the physics of galaxy formation

Cited by 4 publications

References 23 publications

Extending the high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of Line Emission Mapper to UV/optically-bright sources

Extending the high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy of Line Emission Mapper to UV/optically-bright sources

Line emission mapper cryogenic system design

The Line Emission Mapper (LEM): mission and science operations

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