Breakthrough Science with Constellation-X
Kimberly Weaver
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
kweaver@cleo.gsfc.nasa.gov
Additional authors: Mike Garcia (SAO), Nick White (NASA), Harvey Tananbaum (SAO), Jay Bookbinder (SAO), Rob Petre, (NASA)
Constellation-X, part of NASA's Beyond Einstein Program, is the X-ray equivalent of the Keck telescope and is planned to be a premiere X-ray spectroscopy mission. Constellation-X will mark the start of a new era, with high resolution X-ray spectra obtained for all classes of X-ray sources over a wide range of luminosity and redshift. With its factor of 100 increase in sensitivity over current high resolution X-ray spectroscopy missions, the increased instrument capabilities will enable studies of many fundamental astrophysics questions. Key among these are: (1) Measure the effects of strong gravity near the event horizons of black holes, (2) study the formation of supermassive black holes and trace their evolution with cosmic time, (3) trace baryonic matter throughout the universe, and constrain the nature of dark matter and dark energy, (4) study the life cycles of matter and energy and understand the behavior of matter in extreme environments. How Constellation-X will address all of these fundamental science questions will be discussed.
