DXL: a sounding rocket mission for the study of solar wind charge exchange and local hot bubble X-ray emission

Massimiliano Galeazzi (1) , Meng Chiao (2) , Michael R. Collier (2) , Thomas Cravens , Dimitra Koutroumpa (2) , Kip D. Kuntz (3) , Susan Lepri (4) , Dan Mccammon , Frederick S. Porter (2) , Krishna Prasai (1) , Ina Robertson , Steve Snowden (2) , Youaraj Uprety (1)

1 Department of Physics [Coral Gables]
2 GSFC - NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
3 JHU - Johns Hopkins University
4 University of Michigan [Ann Arbor]

The Diffuse X-rays from the Local galaxy (DXL) mission is an approved sounding rocket project with a first launch scheduled around December 2012. Its goal is to identify and separate the X-ray emission generated by solar wind charge exchange from that of the local hot bubble to improve our understanding of both. With 1,000 cm2 proportional counters and grasp of about 10 cm2 sr both in the 1/4 and 3/4 keV bands, DXL will achieve in a 5-min flight what cannot be achieved by current and future X-ray satellites.

Mots clés: X-ray; Solar wind charge exchange; Local hot bubble; Diffuse X-ray background

Domaines: Astrophysique stellaire et solaire [astro-ph.SR]; Astrophysique stellaire et solaire [astro-ph.SR]

Massimiliano Galeazzi, Meng Chiao, Michael R. Collier, Thomas Cravens, Dimitra Koutroumpa, et al.. DXL: a sounding rocket mission for the study of solar wind charge exchange and local hot bubble X-ray emission. Experimental Astronomy, 2011, 32 (2), pp.83-99. ⟨10.1007/s10686-011-9249-y⟩. ⟨hal-00686540⟩