ssu program updates july 26, 2010 professor lynn cominsky
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SSU Program Updates
July 26, 2010
Professor Lynn Cominsky
Current SSU Missions• Fermi (formerly GLAST) - launched June
11, 2008 – nominal mission is 5 years – Project Scientist Julie McEnery will update
• Swift – launched November 20, 2004• XMM-Newton – launched December, 1999• NuSTAR – now in Phase C/D, planned for
Feb. 2012 launch• SNAP – reconsituted as JDEM = Joint
Dark Energy Mission. In limbo pending “Blandford committee” report
• EXIST – also in limbo…
Changes in the EA program• Fermi EAs have resigned: Walter
Glogowski, Sharla Dowding• Fermi EA has had a baby – Janet Moore –
cannot be with us this week• Linda Smith, Fermi EA is in Master’s
program at Penn which will not let her attend training week
• David Beier has had some health problems recently and is under Dr’s order not to fly
• NuSTAR EA Bill Panczner has had serious surgery and has had to retire.
• Tyson Harty (Georgia) is with us this week to see if he will join the program.
Senior Review Results 2010• Happens every 2 years – determines funding for next 2-4 years. • Fermi was not reviewed – it is in its 5-year nominal mission. It
will be up for review in 2012 cycle.
Swift and the Sr. Review• Swift was #1 in the 2008 senior review. However, it
still did well in this review: “Swift was launched on November 30, 2004 and is presently operating well. There are no known issues that would prevent operation for many more years.”
• “Swift is a productive and important mission making significant contributions to astronomy. The Swift Guest Investigator program is producing very good science and should continue to be a key component of the mission.”
• Funding was recommended at the expected level through 2012, with reassessment for 2013-2014.
• I expect to receive sufficient Swift E/PO funds for at least two more years, to continue to fund the 5 Swift EAs. And probably for four more years.
XMM and the Sr. Review• XMM was rated #8/10 in 2008. It did much better this
year. “XMM-Newton, launched in 1999, is a facility-class X-ray observatory that is a cornerstone of ESA’s Horizon 2000 program. It retains strong European support, and in the most recent review of extended ESA missions it was among the most highly rated. After a decade of operation, the spacecraft health and performance remain satisfactory”
• Because XMM was rated so low in 2008, it came into the Sr. Review with a very low “in-guide” number. Therefore, they asked for an augmentation for 2011-2014. This was approved for 2011, with more for 2012, and another review for 2013-2014.
• I am waiting to see how this translates into money for E/PO. I will probably know by the Fall.
EA Shuffle….• So if XMM funding is seriously cut, the two
XMM EAs will switch over to being funded by Fermi, which is now 2 EAs short.
• But we won’t know until Fall.• Also, travel money seems to be at a
premium since so many people are overrunning.
• I can’t afford to keep the stipends the same, and also raise the travel funding. Last time we raised both…. Let’s discuss.
New SSU Project(s)• Funding received for development of an on-line
general education Cosmology course for undergraduates – in progress. We will have a short presentation by Geraldine Cochran, who has been doing education research with Prof. Kim Coble about students’ views in Cosmology
• SSU is trying to get funding for other projects – High School CanSat and high-powered rocket curriculum development, Palomar Observatory museum exhibit to augment NuSTAR E/PO program, and (at least one) potential new Explorer satellite. Results for the first two should be announced in the late Fall 2010.
Fermi Update – details from Julie McEnery, Project Scientist
Radio galaxy
High-mass binary
Gamma-ray pulsar
Bright blazar
Globular cluster
Unidentified
Fermi products• Updated since launch:
– Fermi factsheet– AGN guide – will be reprinted after EA training (also
poster)– Fermi paper model – Fermi stickers (two types)– Fermi race card game– Fermi litho
• Other products for educators:– Active Galaxy Pop-up Book and Ed guide– 3 TOPS modules
• Also have to give away:– Fermi Epo’s Chronicles lithos– Fermi post-it notes pads
Swift
• Swift continues to enjoy good health, has recently detected 500th burst.
• Swift is now a mature mission, and although its primary science is still GRBs, there are many other exciting things that Swift is studying…– Supernovae– Active Galaxies– Other flares
Swift Press-worthy Sciencehttp://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/news/• May 26, 2010 - NASA's Swift Survey finds
'Smoking Gun' of Black Hole Activation • April 19, 2010 - NASA's Swift Catches 500th
Gamma-ray Burst• January 27, 2010 - Newborn Black Holes Boost
Explosive Power of Supernovae• November 10, 2009 - Swift, XMM-Newton
satellites tune into a middleweight black hole• September 16, 2009 - Swift Creates Best-Ever
Ultraviolet Image of Andromeda Galaxy• June 8, 2009 - Keck Study Sheds New Light On
‘Dark’ Gamma-ray Bursts
Swift Press-worthy Science• April 28, 2009 - New Gamma-ray Burst
Smashes Cosmic Distance Record• February 28, 2009 - NASA's Swift Spies Comet
Lulin• February 10, 2009 - NASA's Swift, Fermi Probe
Fireworks From a Flaring Gamma-Ray Star• January 6, 2009: NASA's Swift Shows Active
Galaxies Are Different Near And Far• September 19, 2008 - Swift Catches Farthest
Gamma-Ray Burst • September 10, 2008- "Naked-Eye" Gamma-Ray
Burst Was Aimed Squarely At Earth
Swift/UVOT M31 tour
• http://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/results/releases/
By NASA’s Stefan Immler
Swift’s 500 Bursts
Most distant burst (again)
• April 23, 2009 – redshift 8.2 or 630 million years after the BB
• So far away that the optical afterglow was redshifted into infrared
• Previous record holder GRB080913 had z=6.7, was 190 million light years closer
“Naked Eye” Burst = GRB080319B• Afterglow so bright it could have been seen by
someone’s unaided eye (if they had been looking)
• Jet must have been aimed right at Earth, with particles traveling at 99.99995% c
The burst that “blinded” Swift
• GRB100621A – so bright in x-rays that the XRT was saturated
• Not noticed until UK astronomer Phil Evans returned from vacation and data were missing from this burst
• He reconstructed the burst to determine that this was the brightest x-ray source ever seen by Swift – 143,000 x-ray photons per second!
• Distance to burst was about 5 billion light years
XRT image shown in red to yellow colors.
The UVOT saw nothing unusual.
Swift Products• Newton’s Laws poster set • Swift Eyes Through Time videos and educator’s
guide (Penn State) - download• GRB Educator’s Guide and poster• Out of stock: Priorities?
– Swift glider– Swift model booklets
• Still available– Swift sticker– Swift mini-plots
• Needing update: GEMS guide
Latest XMM News:
• http://xmm.esac.esa.int/external/xmm_news/latest_news.shtml
• 6/21/10: XMM-Newton line detection provides new tool to probe extreme gravity
• 5/31/10: Novel observing mode on XMM-Newton opens new perspectives on galaxy clusters
• 5/27/10: Molecular clouds reveal a giant outburst of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Galaxy
• 5/11/10: Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium in the Sculptor Wall
• 5/10/10: Invisible light discovers the most distant cluster of galaxies – redshift 1.62, this is 9.6 billion light years
Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect
• Photons from cosmic microwave background travel through clusters of galaxies on their way to our detectors
• The electrons in the ionized (X-ray emitting) gas in the clusters interact with the CMB photons, modifying their spectrum in a special way – this is the “Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect”
• The modified CMB spectrum can be measured by mm-wavelength telescopes
XMM detections of galaxy clusters
• Microwave contours in white• X-ray emitting gas: purple• Overlaid on optical image• The cluster has a mass of
over 1015 solar masses, – a temperature of about 9.3
keV – redshift z=0.32
• Needs multi-wavelength approach to detect and measure distant clusters
Latest XMM News:• 4/30/10: Jets from BHs expel gas not only from
their host galaxies but even from the space between galaxies in groups
Blue is radio jet
Red is X-ray emitting gas
Green is galaxy
Latest XMM News:
• 4/30/10: New XMM Source catalog brings total X-ray source counts to over ¼ million
XMM-Newton Products• We have restocked the Earth balls for the 3D
magnetic field activity• Rulers have been reprinted – 6 inch version• Supernova guide is approved by NASA Product
Review – but we are not printing them (CDs only)• Also still available online:
– CLEA Lab “Dying Stars and the Birth of the Elements” and manual
– Space Place “Black Hole Rescue” in English and Spanish
• eXtreme Universe planetarium show is still in progress – Kevin John will show this on Wednesday
• Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array
• NuSTAR “slideshow” and pens – a few available
NuSTAR after launch
• First focusing hard x-ray (6-80 keV)
mission
NuSTAR hardware
• Focusing optics – low background, compact detector
NuSTAR Hardware
GSFC: optics slumping>50% of flight substrates producedsimilar to planned IXO processmeasured figure: 20”-30”
Copenhagen (DTU-Space): optics coatingdepth graded Pt/SiC and W/Si coatings
Columbia: optics assemblyexpected performance: 43” (HPD), 7.5” (FWHM)
Caltech: focal planeCdZnTe detectors
ATK/Goleta: extendable mastfully deployed flight mast
Energy Range: 5-80 keV
Angular Resolution: 43 arcsec (HPD)
Field of View: 13 x 13 arcmin
Spectral Resolution:
1.2 keV at 68 keV
600 eV at 6 keV
Sensitivity
(3σ, 1 Ms):
2 x 10-15 erg/cm2/s (6-10 keV)
1 x 10-14 erg/cm2/s (10-30 keV)
Temporal Resolution:
0.1 msec
ToO Response: <48 hr
Launch Date: February 2012
Orbit:6 degree inclination
550 km x 600 km
Mission Lifetime:
Orbit Lifetime:
2 years baseline
>7 years orbit lifetime
NuSTAR
NuSTAR Performance
NuSTAR Baseline Science Plan (2 yr)
Objective #1: How are black holes distributed through the cosmos, and how do they affect the formation of galaxies?
Objective #2: How are stellar remnants distributed within the Galaxy and near the Galactic center?
Objective #3: How do stars explode and forge the elements that compose the Earth?
Objective #4: What powers the most extreme active galactic nuclei?
~6 months of unallocated science observing time in first 2 years for ToO’s, additional programs, and/or to respond to primary program
Other resources of interest: