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| Spektr-RG's science
Creators of the Spektr-RG spacecraft promised a revolutionary data in the field of the so-called high-energy astrophysics. Unlike previous orbital X-ray telescopes, such as European XMM Newton and NASA's AXAF Chandra, which were equipped with instruments with narrow angles of view, Spektr-RG would enable a wide-angle survey of the sky.
Spektr-RG observatory. Copyright © 2010 Anatoly Zak
Scientific mission The scientific payload of Spektr-RG was ultimately limited to just two instruments -- a 810-kilogram eROSITA developed at Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Munich, Germany, and a 350-kilogram Russian ART-XC telescope developed by the VNIIEF nuclear research center in the city of Sarov. Despite its only two payloads, project scientists promised a revolutionary data in the field of the so-called high-energy astrophysics. Unlike previous orbital X-ray telescopes, such as European XMM Newton and NASA's AXAF Chandra, which were equipped with instruments with narrow angles of view, Spektr-RG would enable a wide-angle survey of the sky. Germany's eROSITA, (where "e" stood for "extended" denoting much larger and powerful instrument than the originally proposed version), promised a wide-angle view at the entire range of its sensitivity and ART-XC at low-energy levels. eROSITA will be sensitive to electromagnetic waves from 0.3 to 10 keV and ART-XC will be registering from 6 to 30 keV. eROSITA would deliver sensitivity and survey depth 30 times greater than it would be possible with previous instruments. Thanks to its instruments, the Spektr-RG spacecraft could be used to compile a global map of X-ray sources, such as black holes, neutron stars and white dwarfs. A resulting catalog of X-ray sources could include a comprehensive list of galaxy clusters, which had formed since the formation of the Universe. For example, the German team had established a goal for eROSITA to detect mind-boggling 100,000 clusters of galaxies, which are the largest known astronomical entities in the Universe bound by gravity. Such a comprehensive survey would enable to assess an evolution of the Universe and to calculate key cosmological phenomena, such as the Dark Energy. In addition, the instrument would enable to detect as many as 700,000 stars and three million of super-massive Black Holes throughout the entire Universe. Spektr-RG could also detect radiation emitted by hot gas from "Dark Matter" sources, enabling to map the distribution of this mysterious substance around the Universe. (441) It was expected that the spacecraft would spend first four years of its mission conducting a global survey of the entire sky and following three years watching small remote targets such as individual galaxies. Potential challenges to scientific priority of Spektr-RG Despite unique capabilities of Spektr-RG's instruments, the Russian astrophysicist Sergei Popov from the Astronomy Institute of the Moscow State University noted that scientific results of the observatory's mission could be diminished by delays of its launch beyond 2014. For example, potential discoveries in the field of cosmological models and large-scale structures in the Universe could be achieved with alternative instruments operating in far-infrared or sub-millimeter range of spectrum. Such data could be obtained with the European Planck orbital observatory or even with some powerful ground-based telescopes, such as the South Pole Telescope, Popov said.
Specifications of science instruments onboard Spektr-RG (589):
Expected total targets cataloged by Spektr-RG:
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