The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS), a concept recently submitted to NASA’s Astrophysics Probe Explorer competition, will offer low-background, arcsecond-resolution imaging in the 0.3–10 keV band across a 450-arcmin2 field of view, with an effective area at 1 keV of at least 4200 cm2. AXIS will bring X-ray astronomy back to the forefront of modern mainstream astrophysics, reaching equivalent depths in X-rays to many of the major facilities of the 2030’s (e.g., JWST, Roman, Rubin, ngVLA, LISA) to address the most important questions identified by the Astro2020 Decadal Survey. Here, we present an update on the status of AXIS.
The Advanced X-ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) is a Probe-class concept that will build on the legacy of the Chandra x-ray Observatory by providing low-background, arcsecond-resolution in the 0.3-10 keV band across a 450 arcminute2 field of view, with an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity. AXIS utilizes breakthroughs in the construction of lightweight segmented x-ray optics using single-crystal silicon, and developments in the fabrication of large-format, small-pixel, high readout rate CCD detectors with good spectral resolution, allowing a robust and cost-effective design. Further, AXIS will be responsive to target-of-opportunity alerts and, with onboard transient detection, will be a powerful facility for studying the time-varying x-ray universe, following on from the legacy of the Neil Gehrels (Swift) x-ray observatory that revolutionized studies of the transient x-ray Universe. In this paper, we present an overview of AXIS, highlighting the prime science objectives driving the AXIS concept and how the observatory design will achieve these objectives.
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