Kraft, R;
Bogdán, Á;
ZuHone, J;
Adams, JS;
Alvarado-Gómez, JD;
Argiroffi, C;
Ayromlou, M;
... Randall, SW; + view all
(2024)
The Line Emission Mapper (LEM) Probe Mission Concept.
In: den Herder, Jan-Willem A and Nakazawa, Kazuhiro and Nikzad, Shouleh, (eds.)
Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering.
(pp. 1309327-1-1309327-54).
SPIE
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Abstract
The Line Emission Mapper (LEM) is a Probe mission concept developed in response to NASA's Astrophysics Probe Explorer (APEX) Announcement of Opportunity. LEM has a single science instrument composed of a large-area, wide-field X-ray optic and a microcalorimeter X-ray imaging spectrometer in the focal plane. LEM is optimized to observe low-surface-brightness diffuse X-ray emission over a 30′ equivalent diameter field of view with 1.3 and 2.5 eV spectral resolution in the 0.2 − 2.0 keV band. Our primary scientific objective is to map the thermal, kinetic, and elemental properties of the diffuse gas in the extended X-ray halos of galaxies, the outskirts of galaxy clusters, the filamentary structures between these clusters, the Milky Way star-formation regions, the Galactic halo, and supernova remnants in the Milky Way and Local Group. The combination of a wide-field optic with 18′′ angular resolution end-to-end and a microcalorimeter array with 1.3 eV spectral resolution in a 5′ × 5′ inner array (2.5 eV outside of that) offers unprecedented sensitivity to extended low-surface-brightness X-ray emission. This allows us to study feedback processes, gas dynamics, and metal enrichment over seven orders of magnitude in spatial scales, from parsecs to tens of megaparsecs. LEM will spend approximately 11% of its five-year prime science mission performing an All-Sky Survey, the first all-sky X-ray survey at high spectral resolution. The remainder of the five-year science mission will be divided between directed science (30%) and competed General Observer science (70%). LEM and the NewAthena/XIFU are highly complementary, with LEM's optimization for soft X-rays, large FOV, 1.3 eV spectral resolution, and large grasp balancing the NewAthena/X-IFU's broadband sensitivity, large effective area, and unprecedented spectral resolving power at 6 keV. In this presentation, we will provide an overview of the mission architecture, the directed science driving the mission design, and the broad scope these capabilities offer to the entire astrophysics community.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Line Emission Mapper (LEM) Probe Mission Concept |
| Event: | Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray |
| Dates: | 16 Jun 2024 - 22 Jun 2024 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1117/12.3019969 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3019969 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10201491 |
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