The Constellation X-ray mission: science goals and mission implementation

Abstract

The Constellation-X mission is a large collecting area X-ray observatory emphasizing high spectral resolution ( R= E/Δ E from 300 to 3000) and a broad energy band (0.25–60 keV). By increasing the telescope aperture and utilizing efficient spectrometers the mission will achieve a factor of 20–100 increased sensitivity over current high resolution X-ray spectroscopy missions. The use of focusing optics across the 10–60 keV band will provide a similar factor of 100 increased sensitivity in this band. The Constellation-X design divides the collecting area across four separate spacecraft, launched two at a time. Constellation-X will address many topics including observing the formation and evolution of clusters of galaxies, constraining the Baryon content of the Universe, observing the effects of strong gravity close to the event horizon of super-massive black holes and the evolution of AGN with redshift.