Astronomical Roentgen Telescope – X-ray Concentrator

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ART-XC on SRG

About

ART-XC is a focusing hard X-ray telescope operating over the energy range of 4−30 keV, with an angular resolution of less than 1 arcminute on-axis, a field of view of ~0.3 square degree and an energy resolution of about 9% at 14 keV. The ART-XC primary mission will be to perform a four-year all-sky survey simultaneously with the other SRG instrument, eROSITA, followed by three years of pointed observations.

All-sky survey

ART-XC Flux limits. During first four years, ART-XC survey will scan the entire sky every 6 months. With a total effective area of 455 square centimeter (at 8 keV), after the 4-year survey, the ART-XC survey will reach 10^-12 erg/s/cm^2 flux limit in the 5-11 keV band. The all-sky survey design also includes two "deep" regions in the north and south ecliptic poles, due to the telescope's orbit and the surrey's scan pattern. At these regions, the survey sensitivity will be at least 4 times deeper over 400 square degrees. Compared to existing "hard" X-ray surveys such as the "wide and shallow" Swift/BAT all-sky survey, and "narrow but deep" NuSTAR extragalactic surveys, ART-XC surveys will occupy the Luminosity-redshift parameter space that has yet to be explored (see the figure shown here).

Scientific Topcis

The hard X-ray energy range covered by ART-XC is primed for studying a broad range of high-energy sources, including