The development of the mirror for the Athena X-ray mission

Open Access
Authors
  • M.J. Collon
  • L. Abalo
  • N.M. Barrière
  • A. Bayerle
  • L. Castiglione
  • N. Eenkhoorn
  • D. Girou
  • R. Günther
  • E. Hauser
  • R. van der Hoeven
  • J. den Hollander
  • Yvette Jenkins
  • L. Keek
  • B. Landgraf
  • A. Lassise
  • B. Okma
  • P. da Silva Ribeiro
  • C. Rizos
  • A. Thete
  • G. Vacanti
  • S. Verhoeckx
  • M. Vervest
  • R. Visser
  • L. Voruz
  • M. Bavdaz
  • E. Wille
  • I. Ferreira
  • M. Olde Riekerink
  • J. Haneveld
  • A. Koelewijn
  • M. Wijnperle
  • J.J. Lankwarden
  • B. Schurink
  • R. Start
  • C. van Baren
  • J.W. den Herder
  • M. Krumrey
  • D. Skroblin
  • V. Burwitz
  • S. Massahi
  • D. della Monica Ferreira
  • S. Svendsen
  • F.E. Christensen
  • W. Mundon
  • G. Phillips
Publication date 2023
Host editors
  • K. Minoglou
  • N. Karafolas
  • B. Cugny
Book title International Conference on Space Optics, ICSO 2022
Book subtitle Dubrovnik, Croatia 3–7 October 2022
ISBN (electronic)
  • 9781510668034
Series Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Event 2022 International Conference on Space Optics, ICSO 2022
Article number 127770R
Number of pages 8
Publisher SPIE
Organisations
  • Faculty of Science (FNWI) - Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy (API)
Abstract

Athena is the European Space Agency's next flagship telescope, scheduled for launch in the 2030s. Its 2.5 m diameter mirror will be segmented and comprise more than 600 individual Silicon Pore Optics (SPO) mirror modules. Arranged in concentric annuli and following a Wolter-Schwartzschild design, the mirror modules are made of several tens of grazing incidence primary-secondary mirror pairs, each mirror made of silicon, coated to increase the effective area of the system, and shaped to bring the incoming photons to a common focus 12 m away. The mission aims to deliver a half-energy width of 5" and an effective area of about 1.4 m2 at 1 keV. We present the status of the optics technology, and illustrate recent X-ray results and the progress made on the environmental testing, manufacturing and assembly aspects of the optics.
Document type Conference contribution
Language English
Published at https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2689003
Other links https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85173998179
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