The Athena space X-ray Observatory and the astrophysics of hot plasma

Andy Fabian (IoA); Anne Decourchelle (CEA); Didier Barret (IRAP); Jan-Willem den Herder (SRON); Kirpal Nandra (MPE); Matteo Guainazzi (ESA); Randall Smith (SAO)

The Athena space X-ray Observatory and the astrophysics of hot plasma

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arxiv 1912.04615 v1 pith:BSYFJ6UD submitted 2019-12-10 astro-ph.IM astro-ph.GAastro-ph.HE

The Athena space X-ray Observatory and the astrophysics of hot plasma

Didier Barret (IRAP) , Anne Decourchelle (CEA) , Andy Fabian (IOA) , Matteo Guainazzi (ESA) , Kirpal Nandra (MPE) , Randall Smith (SAO) , Jan-Willem den Herder (SRON) This is my paper

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The properties (temperature, density, chemical composition, velocity) of hot astrophysical plasma and the physical processes affecting them (heating/cooling, turbulence, shocks, acceleration) can be probed by high resolution X-ray spectroscopy, to be complemented by high spatial resolution imaging. The paper presents a status of the ESA's Advanced Telescope for High Energy Astrophysics (Athena) mission, particularly focusing on the science performance of its two focal plane instruments for the studies of extended X-ray sources: the Wide Field Imager (WFI) and the X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU). This paper then provides a brief summary of the breakthroughs expected with Athena on the astrophysics of hot plasma, building on the vast heritage of the discoveries and revolutionary results obtained by Chandra and XMM-Newton in this field. As of November 12th, 2019, Athena successfully concluded its feasibility study, and has since then moved into the definition phase, with a launch date scheduled in the early 2030s.

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