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Very Cold Detectors Reveal the Very Hot Universe and Kick Off a New Era in X-ray Astronomy
- Quantum calorimeters are opening a new window on the Universe and a new era of X-ray astronomy has dawned. These devices make precise measurements of energy quanta by measuring the temperature change that occurs when a quantum of energy is deposited in an absorber with low heat capacity. Operation at temperatures less than 0.1 K is required to reduce thermodynamic noise and heat capacity. Resolve, the spectrometer aboard the X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), launched in September 2023, has been operating well in orbit for over a year.
- The potential of the X-ray quantum calorimeter was first acknowledged in the early 1980s and since then, other approaches have been developed optimised for the needs of future missions. Quantum-calorimeter arrays with thousands of pixels that use superconducting transition-edge sensors (TES) instead of silicon (Si) thermistors led to improved energy resolution, more pixels per array and multiplexing. Quantum calorimeters using paramagnetic thermometers are a promising route for realizing even larger arrays. The rich Resolve data sets are identifying complex velocity structures, rare elements and multiple temperature components in a diverse ensemble of cosmic objects.
- Resolve is revealing the Universe through spectroscopy alone. It allows researchers to construct images of complex environments where collections of gas, dust and various attributes emit and absorb X-rays at energies characteristic of their various compositions, velocities and temperatures. Resolve's SXS obtained high-resolution spectra of the Perseus cluster of galaxies and N132D supernova remnant to create the most detailed X-ray spectrum of the object ever made. These results help improve our understanding of the explosion mechanism, how elements produced in stars get distributed, and allow us to infer the type of star each was before ending in a supernova.
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