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The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER)The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is an approved NASA Explorer Mission of Opportunity dedicated to the study of the extraordinary gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear‐physics environments embodied by neutron stars. Scheduled to be launched in 2016 as an International Space Station payload, NICER will explore the exotic states of matter, using rotation‐resolved spectroscopy of the thermal and non‐thermal emissions of neutron stars in the soft (0.2‐12 keV) X‐ray band. Grazing‐incidence "concentrator" optics coupled with silicon drift detectors, actively pointed for a full hemisphere of sky coverage, will provide photon‐counting spectroscopy and timing registered to GPS time and position, with high throughput and relatively low background. The NICER project plans to implement a Guest Observer Program, which includes competitively selected user targets after the first year of flight operations. I will describe NICER and discuss ideas for potential Be/X‐ray binary science.
Document ID
20140012505
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Gendreau, K.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Arzoumanian, Z.
(Universities Space Research Association Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
September 24, 2014
Publication Date
July 7, 2014
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
M14-3643
Meeting Information
Meeting: Be X-Ray Binary Systems (BeXRB) 2014 Workshop
Location: Valencia
Country: Spain
Start Date: July 7, 2014
End Date: July 11, 2014
Sponsors: Valencia Univ.
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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