Abstract
X-ray characterization measurements of the x-ray telescope (XRT) onboard the Astro-E satellite were carried out at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan) x-ray beam facility by means of a raster scan with a narrow x-ray pencil beam. The on-axis half-power diameter (HPD) was evaluated to be 1.8′–2.2′, irrespective of the x-ray energy. The on-axis effective areas of the XRTs for x-ray imaging spectrometers (XISs) were approximately 440, 320, 240, and 170 cm2 at energies of 1.49, 4.51, 8.04, and 9.44 keV, respectively. Those of the x-ray spectrometer (XRS) were larger by 5–10%. The replication method introduced for reflector production significantly improved the imaging capability of the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophyics (ASCA) XRT, whose HPD is ∼3.6′. The increase in the effective area by a factor of 1.5–2.5, depending upon the x-ray energy, compared with that of the ASCA, was brought about by mechanical scale up and longer focal lengths. The off-axis HPDs were almost the same as those obtained on the optical axis. The field of view is defined as the off-axis angle at which the effective area becomes half of the on-axis value. The diameter of the field of view was ∼19′ at 1.49 keV, decreasing with increasing x-ray energy, and became ∼13′ at 9.44 keV. The intensity of stray light and the distribution of this kind of light on the focal plane were measured at the large off-axis angles 30′ and 60′. In the entire XIS field of view (25.4 mm × 25.4 mm), the intensity of the stray light caused by a pointlike x-ray source became at most 1% of the same pointlike source that was on the optical axis.
© 2001 Optical Society of America
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