Introduction
Physics Today paper
The future
Although x-ray calorimeters have already been deployed on sounding rockets making brief flights (see the box on page 33), the first major x-ray calorimeter instrument, XRS, will be launched early next year on the Japanese US ASTRO-E spacecraft. Once in orbit, XRS will inaugurate the field of high-resolution, high-throughput astrophysical x-ray spectroscopy.
Looking further ahead, NASA and the European Space Agency are already investigating future mission concepts --- Constellation-X and XEUS, respectively --- that plan to include an imaging calorimeter with 2 eV resolution at 6 keV and about 1000 pixels. Since such technology does not exist yet, condensed matter physics and materials engineering will feature prominently in the development of the two missions.
In this article, we have tried to show that continuing research in low-temperature physics leads to a greater understanding of high-temperature astrophysics. Questions about the universe place demands on detectors that, in turn, pose questions that condensed matter physicists can --- or strive to --- answer. Adaptations of the resulting spectrometers will be useful tools for fields of research beyond astrophysics. Physics thrives on this type of feedback.
We thank Scott Porter for helping to present the XQC data and Richard Kelley, Andrew Szymkowiak, Harvey Moseley, Elihu Boldt, John Mather, David Rudman, Clark Hamilton, John Martinis, David Wollman, and Gene Hilton for taking the time to read earlier drafts and offer valuable comments.
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