Abstract
X-ray all-sky monitors (ASMs) have played a vital role in the development of x-ray astronomy. In order for them to continue to do so ASMs with high sensitivity, broad energy band coverage, and large sky coverage will be required. The best way to achieve these goals is for the next generation of ASMs to have focusing capability. Lobster-eye optics offer a way to construct a focusing ASM and a design is presented for a lobster-eye ASM that offers an order of magnitude increase in sensitivity over previous nonfocusing instruments. Simpler versions of the lobster-eye telescope, based on arrays of flat reflectors in one dimension only, have also been suggested in the past. In this article we compare the one- and two-dimensional (lobster-eye) configurations and conclude that, for intense short-lived phenomena, where the background is negligible, the one-dimensional configuration is optimal, whereas for ultimate sensitivity of background-limited faint sources the two-dimensional configuration is preferred.
Published Version
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