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Capabilities of the Optical Monitor for the Research in X-Ray Source and Stellar Variability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

E. Antonello ,
L. Maraschi  and
O. Citterio
E. Antonello
Affiliation:
Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via E. Bianchi 46, 22055 Merate, Italy
L. Maraschi
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Fisica, Via Celoria, 20131 Milano, Italy
O. Citterio
Affiliation:
Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via E. Bianchi 46, 22055 Merate, Italy

Extract

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The project of an Optical Monitor (OM) for X-ray satellites, in particular the JET-X (Joint European Telescope for X-ray astronomy) experiment (Wells et al., 1991), derives from the scientific need of having complete data coverage at various wavelengths, UV and optical, of the observed X-ray sources, because these data are essential for a deeper understanding of the various classes of objects. When studying variable sources and/or transient astronomical phenomena, one needs that the multifrequency observations be performed essentially at the same time, because it is the knowledge of the simultaneous optical and X-ray behaviour of a source which contributes substantially to the clarification of its nature. In principle optical observations simultaneous with X-ray ones can be performed from ground based telescopes. However the complexity of satisfying the constraints typical of the optical telescopes (weather conditions, source observability) and of the X-ray instrumentation (e.g. orbital constraints) lead inevitably to a substantial loss of observing time. Therefore the only practical way of having an optimal utilization of the time available for X-ray observations, together with the wealth of scientific potential of simultaneous UV-optical observations, is to have a small telescope to be part of the same space mission.

Type
II. Observational Facts
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 134: Nonlinear Phenomena in Stellar Variability , 1993 , pp. 235 - 237
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1993

References

Antonello, E., Citterio, O., Mazzoleni, F., Mariani, A., Pili, P., and Lombardi, P.: 1990, in Instrumentation in Astronomy VII, SPIE 1235, 867.Google Scholar
Wells, A., Stewart, G.C., Turner, M.J., Watson, D.J., Whitford, C.H., Antonello, E., Citterio, O., Cropper, M.S., Curtis, W.J., Peskett, S., Eyles, C.J., Goodall, C.V., Mineo, T., Sacco, B.. and Terekhov, O.: 1991, in Multi-layer and Grazing Incidence, X-ray/EUV Optics, SPIE 1546, in press.Google Scholar