Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2009
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NASA/TM–2010-215853 The Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2009 William Oegerle and Francis Reddy, Editors Pat Tyler, Graphical Editor March 2010 The NASA STI Program Offi ce … in Profi le Since its founding, NASA has been ded i cated to the • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected ad vancement of aeronautics and space science. The pa pers from scientifi c and technical conferences, NASA Sci en tifi c and Technical Information (STI) symposia, sem i nars, or other meetings spon sored Pro gram Offi ce plays a key part in helping NASA or co spon sored by NASA. maintain this impor tant role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientifi c, tech ni cal, The NASA STI Program Offi ce is operated by or historical information from NASA pro grams, Langley Research Center, the lead center for projects, and mission, often concerned with sub- NASAʼs scientifi c and technical in for ma tion. The jects having substan tial public interest. 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NASA/TM-2010-215853 The Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2009 William Oegerle NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland Francis Reddy SP Systems, Inc., Greenbelt, Maryland Pat Tyler, Graphical Editor SP Systems, Inc., Greenbelt, Maryland National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 March 2010 Available from: NASA Center for AeroSpace Information National Technical Information Service 7115 Standard Drive 5285 Port Royal Road Hanover, MD 21076-1320 Springfield, VA 22161 Astrophysics Science Division: Research and Missions Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................1 I. 2009: Year in Review ...............................................................................................................3 II. Research .................................................................................................................................5 The Persistent Gamma-ray Sky .........................................................................................5 The Transient Gamma-ray Sky ..........................................................................................6 Pulsar Discoveries with Fermi ...........................................................................................7 Observable Signatures of Merging Black Holes ................................................................8 NGC 5408 and the Case for Middleweight Black Holes ....................................................9 Solar Wind Charge Exchange X-ray Emission ................................................................11 Number Counts of Far-Ultraviolet Galaxies .....................................................................13 MCW 419 and the Keck Interferometer ...........................................................................14 Eta Carinae: A Rosetta Stone or an Exception? ..............................................................15 Earth as an Extrasolar Planet ..........................................................................................17 III. Awards ...................................................................................................................................19 IV. Research and Development ..................................................................................................21 Suborbital Projects ................................................................................................................21 Balloon-borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer (BESS) .....................21 Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (Super-TIGER) .........................................22 Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM) ..................................................................22 X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC) and Micro-X .............................................................23 Proto-EXIST .....................................................................................................................25 Gamma-Ray Burst Polarimeter ........................................................................................25 X-ray Advanced Concepts Testbed (XACT) .....................................................................27 Primordial Inflation Polarization Explorer ........................................................................28 Technology Development ......................................................................................................29 High-energy Laboratory Astrophysics Using an X-Ray Microcalorimeter with an Electron Beam Ion Trap .......................................................................................29 X-ray Calorimeter Development ......................................................................................31 X-ray Mirror Development: IXO and NuSTAR .................................................................32 Coded-Mask and CdZnTe Detector Development ..........................................................33 Phase Fresnel Lens Development for X-ray & Gamma-ray Astronomy ..........................33 Far-Infrared Detectors .....................................................................................................34 Variable-delay Polarization Modulators for Exploring Inflation .........................................35 MKID Detectors for Submillimeter Astronomy .................................................................36 Technology Development for Space-Based Imaging Interferometers .............................37 Wide-field Imaging Interferometry Testbed ......................................................................39 Technology Development for LISA...................................................................................40 Three-Dimensional Track Imager Detector for Gamma-ray and Neutron Imaging ..........42 Photon Counter Detector Development ...........................................................................43 V. Projects ..................................................................................................................................45 Projects in Operation .............................................................................................................45 The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope ........................................................................45 The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer .....................................................................................46 XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility ............................................................................47 Swift .................................................................................................................................48 Suzaku (Astro-E2) ..........................................................................................................49 INTEGRAL .......................................................................................................................50 v Astrophysics Science Division: Research and Missions Hubble Space Telescope: SM4 and Wide Field Camera 3 ..............................................51 The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) .........................................................................55 High Energy Astrophysics Science Archival Research Center (HEASARC) ...................57 Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) ............................................................60