ASD Annual Report 2012
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The Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2012 Astrophysics Science Division The NASA/TM-2013-217509 Goddard’s Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2012 Padi Boyd and Francis Reddy, Editors Pat Tyler, Graphical Editor NASA/TM-2013-217509 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 May 2013 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. 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NASA/TM-2013-217509 Goddard’s Astrophysics Science Division Annual Report 2012 Padi Boyd NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland Francis Reddy Syneren Technologies, Inc., Greenbelt, Maryland Pat Tyler, Graphical Editor Syneren Technologies, Inc., Greenbelt, Maryland National Aeronautics and Space Administration Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 May 2013 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 Annual Report 2012 Table of Contents 2012: Year in Review .......................................................................................................................................1 Awards ............................................................................................................................................................5 New Faces in ASD...........................................................................................................................................9 Research Highlights .......................................................................................................................................13 STEREO Spacecraft Observations of Solar Proton Events ......................................................................13 The Exozodiacal Dust Problem for Direct Observations of Exo-Earths ...................................................14 Testing Planetary Formation Theory with Gravitational Microlensing ....................................................15 Swift Discovery of a New Galactic Black Hole Candidate .......................................................................17 Common Energetics: Black Hole Jets in AGN and GRBs .......................................................................18 1FGL J1018.6-5856: The First Gamma-ray Binary Discovered with Fermi ...........................................19 Determining the Intergalactic Photon Density and the Gamma-ray Opacity of the Universe Using Deep Galaxy Survey Data .....................................................................................21 Zooming in on Star Formation in Distant Galaxies ................................................................................22 Wide-field Spatio-spectral Interferometry ...............................................................................................24 Comparing Atom and Light Interferometers as Detectors of Gravitational Waves ...................................25 Research and Development ...........................................................................................................................27 Suborbital ...............................................................................................................................................27 Super Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (Super-TIGER) ..........................................................27 Balloon-Borne Experiment with a Superconducting Spectrometer - Polar (BESS-Polar) ...................28 Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM and ISS-CREAM) ........................................................30 Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) .......................................................................................31 X-ray Quantum Calorimeter (XQC), Micro-X, and DXL Sounding Rockets ...................................34 The Balloon Experimental Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry (BETTII) .............................36 Technology Development .......................................................................................................................38 Detecting CMB Polarization ............................................................................................................38 Laboratory Astrophysics Using an X-ray Microcalorimeter with an Electron Beam Ion Trap ............39 Next Generation X-ray Optics .........................................................................................................40 Technology Development for Gravitational Wave Missions ..............................................................41 Three-Dimensional Track Imager Detector for Gamma-ray Imaging with Polarization .....................44 Projects .........................................................................................................................................................47 In Operation ...........................................................................................................................................48 The Hubble Space Telescope .............................................................................................................48 Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope ...................................................................................................52 Swift .................................................................................................................................................54 XMM-Newton Guest Observer Facility ...........................................................................................56 Suzaku (Astro-E2) ............................................................................................................................56 Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) ...........................................................................58 WMAP Final Results ........................................................................................................................58 High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC) ........................................60 In Development ......................................................................................................................................63 James Webb Space Telescope ............................................................................................................63 Astro-H ............................................................................................................................................67 HAWC+ for SOFIA .........................................................................................................................69 Mission and Instrument Concepts ..........................................................................................................70