Physics & Astronomy Colloquium – Fall 2021 – Mukai

Speaker: Koji Mukai (NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and University of Maryland)

Title: Science with XRISM: Resolving the Nature of the Energetic Cosmos

Abstract: The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM), an international JAXA/NASA collaboration including participation from ESA, will be an advanced X-ray observatory. Resolve, the primary instrument on XRISM, is a high-resolution, non-dispersive X-ray spectrometer operating between 0.3-12 keV. Scheduled to launch in less than 2 years, XRISM is essentially a rebuild of the Hitomi (Astro-H) spacecraft that was lost due to an operational mishap early in the mission in 2016. The XRISM Science Team has published the list of Performance Verification targets, to be observed during the first ~9 months of the mission. The upcoming XRISM Guest Scientist program will select researchers outside the Science Team to participate in the analysis of one PV target each. After the end of the PV phase, XRISM will become an observatory open to all researchers. With this in mind, I will describe the expected performance, the current status, and the potential science of the XRISM mission.

Homepage: https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/bio/koji.mukai-1