Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences (Nov 2024)
The high energy X-ray probe (HEX-P): science overview
- Javier A. García,
- Javier A. García,
- Daniel Stern,
- Kristin Madsen,
- Miles Smith,
- Brian Grefenstette,
- Marco Ajello,
- Jason Alford,
- Adlyka Annuar,
- Matteo Bachetti,
- Mislav Baloković,
- Mislav Baloković,
- Ricarda S. Beckmann,
- Stefano Bianchi,
- Daniela Biccari,
- Peter Boorman,
- Murray Brightman,
- Johannes Buchner,
- Esra Bulbul,
- Chien-Ting Chen,
- Chien-Ting Chen,
- Francesca Civano,
- Joel Coley,
- Joel Coley,
- Joel Coley,
- Riley M. T. Connors,
- Melania Del Santo,
- Laura Di Gesu,
- Paul A. Draghis,
- Paul A. Draghis,
- P. Chris Fragile,
- Andrés Gúrpide,
- Manuele Gangi,
- Suvi Gezari,
- Fiona Harrison,
- Elias Kammoun,
- Elias Kammoun,
- Elias Kammoun,
- Giorgio Lanzuisi,
- Bret Lehmer,
- Anne Lohfink,
- Renee Ludlam,
- Stefano Marchesi,
- Stefano Marchesi,
- Lea Marcotulli,
- Lea Marcotulli,
- Raffaella Margutti,
- Megan Masterson,
- Andrea Merloni,
- Matthew Middleton,
- Kaya Mori,
- Alberto Moretti,
- Kirpal Nandra,
- Kerstin Perez,
- Ryan W. Pfeifle,
- Ryan W. Pfeifle,
- Ciro Pinto,
- Joanna Piotrowska,
- Gabriele Ponti,
- Katja Pottschmidt,
- Katja Pottschmidt,
- Peter Predehl,
- Simonetta Puccetti,
- Arne Rau,
- Stephen Reynolds,
- Andrea Santangelo,
- Daniele Spiga,
- John A. Tomsick,
- Núria Torres-Albà,
- Dominic J. Walton,
- Daniel Wilkins,
- Joern Wilms,
- Will Zhang,
- Xiurui Zhao,
- Xiurui Zhao
Affiliations
- Javier A. García
- X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
- Javier A. García
- Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Daniel Stern
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Kristin Madsen
- X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
- Miles Smith
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Brian Grefenstette
- Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Marco Ajello
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kinard Lab of Physics, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States
- Jason Alford
- Department of Physics, New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Adlyka Annuar
- Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
- Matteo Bachetti
- Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)-Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, Selargius, Italy
- Mislav Baloković
- Department of Astronomy, Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, New Haven, CT, United States
- Mislav Baloković
- Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
- Ricarda S. Beckmann
- 0Institute of Astronomy and Kavli Institute for Cosmology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Stefano Bianchi
- 1Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome, Italy
- Daniela Biccari
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Peter Boorman
- Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Murray Brightman
- Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Johannes Buchner
- 2Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany
- Esra Bulbul
- 2Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany
- Chien-Ting Chen
- 3Science and Technology Institute, Universities Space Research Association, Huntsville, AL, United States
- Chien-Ting Chen
- 4Astrophysics Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, United States
- Francesca Civano
- X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
- Joel Coley
- X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
- Joel Coley
- 5Department of Physics and Astronomy, Howard University, Washington, DC, United States
- Joel Coley
- 6Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST) and Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST), University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Riley M. T. Connors
- 7Department of Physics, Villanova University, Villanova, PA, United States
- Melania Del Santo
- 8Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)/Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica (IASF) Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- Laura Di Gesu
- 9ASI- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Rome, Italy
- Paul A. Draghis
- 0MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Paul A. Draghis
- 1Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- P. Chris Fragile
- 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, United States
- Andrés Gúrpide
- 3School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
- Manuele Gangi
- 9ASI- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Rome, Italy
- Suvi Gezari
- 4Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Fiona Harrison
- Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Elias Kammoun
- 1Dipartimento di Matematica e Fisica, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Rome, Italy
- Elias Kammoun
- 5Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP), Université de Toulouse, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Centre National d'études Spatiales (CNES), Toulouse, France
- Elias Kammoun
- 6Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Firenze, Italy
- Giorgio Lanzuisi
- 7Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, Bologna, Italy
- Bret Lehmer
- 8Department of Physics, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States
- Anne Lohfink
- 9Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United States
- Renee Ludlam
- 0Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
- Stefano Marchesi
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kinard Lab of Physics, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States
- Stefano Marchesi
- 7Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) – Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, Bologna, Italy
- Lea Marcotulli
- Department of Astronomy, Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, New Haven, CT, United States
- Lea Marcotulli
- Department of Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
- Raffaella Margutti
- 1Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Megan Masterson
- 0MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
- Andrea Merloni
- 2Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany
- Matthew Middleton
- 3School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
- Kaya Mori
- 2Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- Alberto Moretti
- 3Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)/Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Merate, LC, Italy
- Kirpal Nandra
- 2Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany
- Kerstin Perez
- 2Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- Ryan W. Pfeifle
- X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
- Ryan W. Pfeifle
- 4Oak Ridge Associated Universities, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) Program, Oak Ridge, TN, United States
- Ciro Pinto
- 8Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)/Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica (IASF) Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- Joanna Piotrowska
- Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States
- Gabriele Ponti
- 3Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)/Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Merate, LC, Italy
- Katja Pottschmidt
- 6Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST) and Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST), University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, United States
- Katja Pottschmidt
- 5Astroparticle Physics Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
- Peter Predehl
- 2Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany
- Simonetta Puccetti
- 9ASI- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Rome, Italy
- Arne Rau
- 2Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany
- Stephen Reynolds
- 6Department of Physics, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, United States
- Andrea Santangelo
- 7Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Daniele Spiga
- 3Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF)/Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Merate, LC, Italy
- John A. Tomsick
- 1Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
- Núria Torres-Albà
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kinard Lab of Physics, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States
- Dominic J. Walton
- 8Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, United Kingdom
- Daniel Wilkins
- 9Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States
- Joern Wilms
- 0Erlangen Centre for Astroparticle Physics and Remeis-Observatory, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Bamberg, Germany
- Will Zhang
- X-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
- Xiurui Zhao
- 1Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
- Xiurui Zhao
- 2Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, United States
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2024.1471585
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 11
Abstract
To answer NASA’s call for a sensitive X-ray observatory in the 2030s, we present the High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P) mission concept. HEX-P is designed to provide the required capabilities to explore current scientific questions and make new discoveries with a broadband X-ray observatory that simultaneously measures sources from 0.2 to 80 keV. HEX-P’s main scientific goals include: 1) understand the growth of supermassive black holes and how they drive galaxy evolution; 2) explore the lower mass populations of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and stellar-mass black holes in the nearby universe; 3) explain the physics of the mysterious corona, the luminous plasma close to the central engine of accreting compact objects that dominates cosmic X-ray emission; and 4) find the sources of the highest energy particles in the Galaxy. These goals motivate a sensitive, broadband X-ray observatory with imaging, spectroscopic, and timing capabilities, ensuring a versatile platform to serve a broad General Observer (GO) and Guest Investigator (GI) community. In this paper, we present an overview of these mission goals, which have been extensively discussed in a collection of more than a dozen papers that are part of this Research Topic volume. The proposed investigations will address key questions in all three science themes highlighted by Astro2020, including their associated priority areas. HEX-P will extend the capabilities of the most sensitive low- and high-energy X-ray satellites currently in orbit and will complement existing and planned high-energy, time-domain, and multi-messenger facilities in the next decade.
Keywords
