SOXS: a wide band spectrograph to follow up transients

• Published in: arXiv.org 2018-07
• Main Authors: Schipani, P, Campana, S, Claudi, R, Käufl, H U, Accardo, M, Aliverti, M, Baruffolo, A, Ben-Ami, S, Biondi, F, Brucalassi, A, Capasso, G, Cosentino, R, D'Alessio, F, D'Avanzo, P, Hershko, O, Gardiol, D, Kuncarayakti, H, Munari, M, Rubin, A, Scuderi, S, Vitali, F, Achrén, J, Araiza-Duran, J Antonio, Arcavi, I, Bianco, A, Cappellaro, E, Colapietro, M, M Della Valle, Diner, O, D'Orsi, S, Fantinel, D, Fynbo, J, Gal-Yam, A, Genoni, M, Hirvonen, M, Kotilainen, J, Kumar, T, Landoni, M, Lehti, J, G Li Causi, Loreggia, D, Marafatto, L, Mattila, S, Pariani, G, Pignata, G, Rappaport, M, Ricci, D, Riva, M, Salasnich, B, Sanchez, R Zanmar, Smartt, S, Turatto, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Celestial bodies; European Southern Observatory; Gamma ray bursts; Gravitational waves; Neutrinos; Transients (astronomy)
• ISSN: 2331-8422
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1807.08828

SOXS (Son Of X-Shooter) will be a spectrograph for the ESO NTT telescope capable to cover the optical and NIR bands, based on the heritage of the X-Shooter at the ESO-VLT. SOXS will be built and run by an international consortium, carrying out rapid and longer term Target of Opportunity requests on a variety of astronomical objects. SOXS will observe all kind of transient and variable sources from different surveys. These will be a mixture of fast alerts (e.g. gamma-ray bursts, gravitational waves, neutrino events), mid-term alerts (e.g. supernovae, X-ray transients), fixed time events (e.g. close-by passage of minor bodies). While the focus is on transients and variables, still there is a wide range of other astrophysical targets and science topics that will benefit from SOXS. The design foresees a spectrograph with a Resolution-Slit product ~ 4500, capable of simultaneously observing over the entire band the complete spectral range from the U- to the H-band. The limiting magnitude of R~20 (1 hr at S/N~10) is suited to study transients identified from on-going imaging surveys. Light imaging capabilities in the optical band (grizy) are also envisaged to allow for multi-band photometry of the faintest transients. This paper outlines the status of the project, now in Final Design Phase.