The Line Emission Mapper X-ray Probe-class mission concept is based on a microcalorimeter array tuned to energies in the range 0.1 to 2 keV. The study of cosmic ecosystems defines the directed portion of the Line Emission Mapper (LEM) mission, thus LEM has been optimized for observations of diffuse X-ray-emitting gas, largely with very low surface brightness. To broaden the range of targets that general observers can study with LEM, we have investigated the particular needs for UV/optical bright stars and solar-system objects. X-ray microcalorimeters are susceptible to degraded energy resolution that can result from thermal noise from residual UV, optical, and IR radiation. Using the present baseline design of the microcalorimeter thermal filters, we compute the UV-IR loading expected from bright stars over the effective temperature range 3500 to 39,000 K and from solar-system objects. The dominant leak of out-of-band energy is in the far-UV around 1500 Å, with a secondary peak of throughput around 4000 Å. For stars with magnitudes V<10 and for all solar-system planets as well as the Moon, the loading is significant, indicating that additional UV/optical blocking is essential if bright objects are to be observed. We have investigated the efficacy of several filter options for optical-blocking filters on the LEM filter wheel, demonstrating that new technology development is not necessary to open up many of these classes of objects to investigation with the high spectral resolution of LEM.
Current lobster eye telescopes show that it’s possible to produce lightweight, large field of view instruments for observing x-rays for both planetary science and astronomy. Jupiter is the most powerful particle accelerator in the solar system and the other outer planets have intricate and complicated magnetospheres which the moons pass in and out of. Particle bombardment of the surfaces of their moons induces the emission of characteristic x-rays which enables their composition to be studied. An orbiting x-ray instrument would transform our understanding of the moons’ composition, aurorae, atmosphere, radiation belts and plasma tori. Lobster eye telescopes are perfect for this application due to their light weight and wide field of view, which would enable direct imaging of the entire radiation belt. This paper begins to identify a lobster eye telescope design to fulfil these science goals.
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