Mission currently in development

NEBULA Xplorer

NEBULA – Xplorer stands for “Netherlands Educational Satellite for Exploration of Binary-Linked Astrophysics – X-ray Observer”. About 400 students will join SRON, 14 Dutch educational institutions and many industrial partners in developing this space mission from start to finish, led by scientists and engineers. The mission has two goals. The scientific goal is to better understand how a black hole captures material from a companion star. The educational goal is for students from Dutch educational institutions to experience first hand how to build a space mission from the ground up. SRON is leading the NEBULA – Xplorer mission, contributing to a new generation of scientists, designers and technicians for Dutch space research.

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About the instrument

Optical Bench

The optical bench holds and aligns the array of 10 concentrators in a precise and repeatable manner. For the layout of the concentrators a hexagonal grid is used. This allows for the 10 concentrators to be packed in a relatively small area.

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Concentrator

Each concentrator has multiple spider structures holding the mirror shells in place. Due to the reflective behavoir of X-rays it is only possible to deflect them at very shallow angles.

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Concentrator Open

The reflecting material is made of gold which is bound to an aluminum substrate, this design results in sufficient performance while maintaining a short focal length of only 0.8m.

X-ray double stars

Many of the brightest objects in the Universe are X-ray binaries. These are combinations of an extremely compact object, such as a black hole or neutron star, and a companion star. Over time, the compact object extracts matter from its companion star. This releases lots of energy through a jet. Scientists do not yet fully understand this process. Especially the nature of the stream of matter right next to the black hole remains a big mystery.

Long observation periods

NEBULA-Xplorer will investigate how jets form and how X-ray binaries evolve. It will observe these objects for long periods of time to see how their emission varies on time scales from milliseconds to weeks. This long observation time makes it possible to combine X-ray activity with data from other wavelengths from other telescopes.

Compact X-ray telescope

NEBULA – Xplorer will be a very compact X-ray space telescope, measuring only 110 x 85 x 50 centimetres. It can be made so small by using several cylindrical mirrors that reflect X-rays. The mission has one X-ray instrument on board that can measure how X-rays vary over a long period of time. The space telescope will use existing, commercial X-ray detectors. These will be cooled down to their optimum operating temperature of -35 degrees Celsius.

Design

The students will be supported by SRON in designing, building and testing the camera, electronics and housing. They will also receive coaching from their educational institute and the industrial partners within the project. We develop NEBULA – Xplorer in close cooperation with the Dutch space industry, which provides the technical facilities to produce and test the various components.