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[26.11] The Relativistic Astrophysics Explorer - A New Mission for X-Ray Timing

P. Kaaret, J.E. Grindlay (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), E.H. Morgan (MIT), J.H. Swank, W. Zhang (NASA/GSFC)

The great success of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) has given us a new probe to study strong gravitational fields and to measure the physical properties of black holes and neutron stars. Here, we describe a ``next-generation'' x-ray timing mission, the Relativistic Astrophysics Explorer (RAE), designed to fit within a MidEx envelope. The main instruments will be a narrow-field x-ray detector array, with a geometric area of 60,000~cm² equal to ten times that of RXTE, and a wide-field x-ray monitor, with good sensitivity and a few arcminute position resolution. We describe the design of the instruments and the science which will be possible with a factor of ten increase in collecting area.

If the author provided an email address or URL for general inquiries, it is as follows:

pkaaret@cfa.harvard.edu