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The MAXI Mission on the ISS: Science and Instruments for Monitoring All-Sky X-Ray Images

The Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) mission is the first astronomical payload to be installed on the Japanese Experiment Module — Exposed Facility (JEM-EF or Kibo-EF) on the International Space Station. It has two types of X-ray slit cameras with wide FOVs and two kinds of X-ray detectors cons...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan 2009-10, Vol.61 (5), p.999-1010
Main Authors: Matsuoka, Masaru, Kawasaki, Kazuyoshi, Ueno, Shiro, Tomida, Hiroshi, Kohama, Mitsuhiro, Suzuki, Motoko, Adachi, Yasuki, Ishikawa, Masaki, Mihara, Tatehiro, Sugizaki, Mutsumi, Isobe, Naoki, Nakagawa, Yujin, Tsunemi, Hiroshi, Miyata, Emi, Kawai, Nobuyuki, Kataoka, Jun, Morii, Mikio, Yoshida, Atsumasa, Negoro, Hitoshi, Nakajima, Motoki, Ueda, Yoshihiro, Chujo, Hirotaka, Yamaoka, Kazutaka, Yamazaki, Osamu, Nakahira, Satoshi, You, Tetsuya, Ishiwata, Ryoji, Miyoshi, Sho, Eguchi, Satoshi, Hiroi, Kazuo, Katayama, Haruyoshi, Ebisawa, Ken
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI) mission is the first astronomical payload to be installed on the Japanese Experiment Module — Exposed Facility (JEM-EF or Kibo-EF) on the International Space Station. It has two types of X-ray slit cameras with wide FOVs and two kinds of X-ray detectors consisting of gas proportional counters covering the energy range of 2 to 30 keV and X-ray CCDs covering the energy range of 0.5 to 12 keV. MAXI will be more powerful than any previous X-ray All Sky Monitor payloads, being able to monitor hundreds of Active Galactic Nuclei. A realistic simulation under optimal observation conditions suggests that MAXI will provide all-sky images of X-ray sources of $\sim $ 20 mCrab ( $\sim $ 7 $\times$ 10 $^{-10} $ erg cm $^{-2} $ s $^{-1}$ in the energy band of 2–30 keV) from observations during one ISS orbit (90 min), $\sim $ 4.5 mCrab for one day, and $\sim $ 2 mCrab for one week. The final detectability of MAXI could be $\sim $ 0.2 mCrab for two years, which is comparable to the source confusion limit of the MAXI field of view (FOV). The MAXI objectives are: (1) to alert the community to X-ray novae and transient X-ray sources, (2) to monitor long-term variabilities of X-ray sources, (3) to stimulate multi-wavelength observations of variable objects, (4) to create unbiased X-ray source cataloges, and (5) to observe diffuse cosmic X-ray emissions, especially with better energy resolution for soft X-rays down to 0.5 keV.
ISSN:0004-6264
2053-051X
DOI:10.1093/pasj/61.5.999