Lobster-ISS: An imaging X-ray all-sky monitor for the International Space Station

G. W. Fraser; A. N. Brunton; N. P. Bannister; J. F. Pearson; M. J. Ward; T. Stevenson; D. J. Watson; B. Warwick; S. Whitehead; P. T. O'brien; N. White; K. Jahoda; K. Black; S. D. Hunter; P. Deines-Jones; W. C. Priedhorsky; S. P. Brumby; K. N. Borozdin; T. Vestrand; A. C. Fabian; K. Nugent; A. Peele; T. H. Irving; S. Price; S. Eckersley; I. Renouf; M. Smith; A. Parmar; I. M. McHardy; P. Uttley; A. Lawrence

doi:10.1117/12.454217

Lobster-ISS: An imaging X-ray all-sky monitor for the International Space Station

G. W. Fraser, A. N. Brunton, N. P. Bannister, J. F. Pearson, M. J. Ward, T. Stevenson, D. J. Watson, B. Warwick, S. Whitehead, P. T. O'brien, N. White, K. Jahoda, K. Black, S. D. Hunter, P. Deines-Jones, W. C. Priedhorsky, S. P. Brumby, K. N. Borozdin, T. Vestrand, A. C. FabianK. Nugent, A. Peele, T. H. Irving, S. Price, S. Eckersley, I. Renouf, M. Smith, A. Parmar, I. M. McHardy, P. Uttley, A. Lawrence

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91 Scopus citations

Abstract

We describe the design of Lobster-ISS, an X-ray imaging all-sky monitor (ASM) to be flown as an attached payload on the International Space Station. Lobster-ISS is the subject of an ESA Phase-A study which will begin in December 2001. With an instantaneous field of view 162° × 22.5°, Lobster-ISS will map almost the complete sky every 90 minute ISS orbit, generating a confusion-limited catalogue of ∼ 250,000 sources every 2 months. Lobster-ISS will use focusing microchannel plate optics and imaging gas proportional micro-well detectors; work is currently underway to improve the MCP optics and to develop proportional counter windows with enhanced transmission and negligible rates of gas leakage, thus improving instrument throughput and reducing mass. Lobster-ISS provides an order of magnitude improvement in the sensitivity of X-ray ASMs, and will, for the first time, provide continuous monitoring of the sky in the soft X-ray region (0.1-3.5 keV). Lobster-ISS provides long term monitoring of all classes of variable X-ray source, and an essential alert facility, with rapid detection of transient X-ray sources such as Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows being relayed to contemporary pointed X-ray observatories. The mission, with a nominal lifetime of 3 years, is scheduled for launch on the Shuttle c.2009.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	115-126
Number of pages	12
Journal	Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume	4497
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1117/12.454217
State	Published - 2002
Externally published	Yes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
Condensed Matter Physics
Computer Science Applications
Applied Mathematics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Keywords

ISS: all sky monitor
Lobster
X-ray: instrumentation

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10.1117/12.454217

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Fraser, G. W., Brunton, A. N., Bannister, N. P., Pearson, J. F., Ward, M. J., Stevenson, T., Watson, D. J., Warwick, B., Whitehead, S., O'brien, P. T., White, N., Jahoda, K., Black, K., Hunter, S. D., Deines-Jones, P., Priedhorsky, W. C., Brumby, S. P., Borozdin, K. N., Vestrand, T., ... Lawrence, A. (2002). Lobster-ISS: An imaging X-ray all-sky monitor for the International Space Station. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, 4497, 115-126. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.454217

@article{15f3398df6054f4b9a96170efaced1ba,

title = "Lobster-ISS: An imaging X-ray all-sky monitor for the International Space Station",

abstract = "We describe the design of Lobster-ISS, an X-ray imaging all-sky monitor (ASM) to be flown as an attached payload on the International Space Station. Lobster-ISS is the subject of an ESA Phase-A study which will begin in December 2001. With an instantaneous field of view 162° × 22.5°, Lobster-ISS will map almost the complete sky every 90 minute ISS orbit, generating a confusion-limited catalogue of ∼ 250,000 sources every 2 months. Lobster-ISS will use focusing microchannel plate optics and imaging gas proportional micro-well detectors; work is currently underway to improve the MCP optics and to develop proportional counter windows with enhanced transmission and negligible rates of gas leakage, thus improving instrument throughput and reducing mass. Lobster-ISS provides an order of magnitude improvement in the sensitivity of X-ray ASMs, and will, for the first time, provide continuous monitoring of the sky in the soft X-ray region (0.1-3.5 keV). Lobster-ISS provides long term monitoring of all classes of variable X-ray source, and an essential alert facility, with rapid detection of transient X-ray sources such as Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows being relayed to contemporary pointed X-ray observatories. The mission, with a nominal lifetime of 3 years, is scheduled for launch on the Shuttle c.2009.",

keywords = "ISS: all sky monitor, Lobster, X-ray: instrumentation",

author = "Fraser, \{G. W.\} and Brunton, \{A. N.\} and Bannister, \{N. P.\} and Pearson, \{J. F.\} and Ward, \{M. J.\} and T. Stevenson and Watson, \{D. J.\} and B. Warwick and S. Whitehead and O'brien, \{P. T.\} and N. White and K. Jahoda and K. Black and Hunter, \{S. D.\} and P. Deines-Jones and Priedhorsky, \{W. C.\} and Brumby, \{S. P.\} and Borozdin, \{K. N.\} and T. Vestrand and Fabian, \{A. C.\} and K. Nugent and A. Peele and Irving, \{T. H.\} and S. Price and S. Eckersley and I. Renouf and M. Smith and A. Parmar and McHardy, \{I. M.\} and P. Uttley and A. Lawrence",

year = "2002",

doi = "10.1117/12.454217",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "4497",

pages = "115--126",

journal = "Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering",

issn = "0277-786X",

publisher = "SPIE",

}

Fraser, GW, Brunton, AN, Bannister, NP, Pearson, JF, Ward, MJ, Stevenson, T, Watson, DJ, Warwick, B, Whitehead, S, O'brien, PT, White, N, Jahoda, K, Black, K, Hunter, SD, Deines-Jones, P, Priedhorsky, WC, Brumby, SP, Borozdin, KN, Vestrand, T, Fabian, AC, Nugent, K, Peele, A, Irving, TH, Price, S, Eckersley, S, Renouf, I, Smith, M, Parmar, A, McHardy, IM, Uttley, P & Lawrence, A 2002, 'Lobster-ISS: An imaging X-ray all-sky monitor for the International Space Station', Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, vol. 4497, pp. 115-126. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.454217

TY - JOUR

T1 - Lobster-ISS

T2 - An imaging X-ray all-sky monitor for the International Space Station

AU - Fraser, G. W.

AU - Brunton, A. N.

AU - Bannister, N. P.

AU - Pearson, J. F.

AU - Ward, M. J.

AU - Stevenson, T.

AU - Watson, D. J.

AU - Warwick, B.

AU - Whitehead, S.

AU - O'brien, P. T.

AU - White, N.

AU - Jahoda, K.

AU - Black, K.

AU - Hunter, S. D.

AU - Deines-Jones, P.

AU - Priedhorsky, W. C.

AU - Brumby, S. P.

AU - Borozdin, K. N.

AU - Vestrand, T.

AU - Fabian, A. C.

AU - Nugent, K.

AU - Peele, A.

AU - Irving, T. H.

AU - Price, S.

AU - Eckersley, S.

AU - Renouf, I.

AU - Smith, M.

AU - Parmar, A.

AU - McHardy, I. M.

AU - Uttley, P.

AU - Lawrence, A.

PY - 2002

Y1 - 2002

N2 - We describe the design of Lobster-ISS, an X-ray imaging all-sky monitor (ASM) to be flown as an attached payload on the International Space Station. Lobster-ISS is the subject of an ESA Phase-A study which will begin in December 2001. With an instantaneous field of view 162° × 22.5°, Lobster-ISS will map almost the complete sky every 90 minute ISS orbit, generating a confusion-limited catalogue of ∼ 250,000 sources every 2 months. Lobster-ISS will use focusing microchannel plate optics and imaging gas proportional micro-well detectors; work is currently underway to improve the MCP optics and to develop proportional counter windows with enhanced transmission and negligible rates of gas leakage, thus improving instrument throughput and reducing mass. Lobster-ISS provides an order of magnitude improvement in the sensitivity of X-ray ASMs, and will, for the first time, provide continuous monitoring of the sky in the soft X-ray region (0.1-3.5 keV). Lobster-ISS provides long term monitoring of all classes of variable X-ray source, and an essential alert facility, with rapid detection of transient X-ray sources such as Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows being relayed to contemporary pointed X-ray observatories. The mission, with a nominal lifetime of 3 years, is scheduled for launch on the Shuttle c.2009.

AB - We describe the design of Lobster-ISS, an X-ray imaging all-sky monitor (ASM) to be flown as an attached payload on the International Space Station. Lobster-ISS is the subject of an ESA Phase-A study which will begin in December 2001. With an instantaneous field of view 162° × 22.5°, Lobster-ISS will map almost the complete sky every 90 minute ISS orbit, generating a confusion-limited catalogue of ∼ 250,000 sources every 2 months. Lobster-ISS will use focusing microchannel plate optics and imaging gas proportional micro-well detectors; work is currently underway to improve the MCP optics and to develop proportional counter windows with enhanced transmission and negligible rates of gas leakage, thus improving instrument throughput and reducing mass. Lobster-ISS provides an order of magnitude improvement in the sensitivity of X-ray ASMs, and will, for the first time, provide continuous monitoring of the sky in the soft X-ray region (0.1-3.5 keV). Lobster-ISS provides long term monitoring of all classes of variable X-ray source, and an essential alert facility, with rapid detection of transient X-ray sources such as Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows being relayed to contemporary pointed X-ray observatories. The mission, with a nominal lifetime of 3 years, is scheduled for launch on the Shuttle c.2009.

KW - ISS: all sky monitor

KW - Lobster

KW - X-ray: instrumentation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0012463048

UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0012463048&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1117/12.454217

DO - 10.1117/12.454217

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:0012463048

SN - 0277-786X

VL - 4497

SP - 115

EP - 126

JO - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

JF - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

ER -

Lobster-ISS: An imaging X-ray all-sky monitor for the International Space Station

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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

Keywords

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