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The X-Ray Timing Explorer*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

H. V. Bradt
Affiliation:
Center for Space Research (Room 37-587), MIT, Cambridge MA 02139, USA
A. M. Levine
Affiliation:
Center for Space Research (Room 37-587), MIT, Cambridge MA 02139, USA
E. H. Morgan
Affiliation:
Center for Space Research (Room 37-587), MIT, Cambridge MA 02139, USA
R. A. Remillard
Affiliation:
Center for Space Research (Room 37-587), MIT, Cambridge MA 02139, USA
J. H. Swank
Affiliation:
Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, Code 666, GSFC NASA, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
B. L. Dingus
Affiliation:
Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, Code 666, GSFC NASA, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
S. S. Holt
Affiliation:
Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, Code 666, GSFC NASA, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
K. M. Jahoda
Affiliation:
Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, Code 666, GSFC NASA, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
R. E. Rothschild
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, UCSD C-011, La Jolla CA 92093, USA
D. E. Gruber
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, UCSD C-011, La Jolla CA 92093, USA
P. L. Hink
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, UCSD C-011, La Jolla CA 92093, USA
R. M. Pelling
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, UCSD C-011, La Jolla CA 92093, USA
J. G. Jernigan
Affiliation:
Space Sciences Laboratory, UCB Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

Abstract

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The capabilities of the X-ray Timing Explorer (XTE) are described with particular attention paid to current scientific problems it will address from galactic neutron star systems to active galactic nuclei. It features a low-background continuous 2-200 keV response with large apertures (a 0.63-m2 proportional counter array and a 0.16-m2 dual rocking NaI/CsI scintillation array). Rapid response (in hours) to temporal phenomena, e.g. transients, is obtained by virtue of a scanning all-sky monitor and rapid maneuverability. XTE will carry out detailed energy-resolved studies of phenomena close to neutron stars (e.g. QPO’s) because of its sub-millisecond timing (to 10 μs), its high telemetry rates (to 256 kb/s), and the high throughput of its data system (to ≳ 2 × 105 c s−1).

Type
II. Future Missions
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1990

Footnotes

*

This article originally appeared in Advances in Space Research (Bradt, Swank and Rothschild 1990). It is reproduced here (with minor changes) with the permission of Pergamon Press.

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