Principal Investigator Herman Marshall
Co-investigator Norbert S Schulz
Project Website http://space.mit.edu/~hermanm/polarimeter/polarimeter2.html
Project Start Date March 2012
Project End Date March 2014
The objective of this program is to develop instrument components that can be used to measure the polarization of astrophysical X-ray sources at energies below 1 keV. We propose to obtain components such as laterally graded multilayer coated mirrors that can be qualified for space use, assemble them in a vacuum chamber, and test the system with unpolarized and polarized X-rays. Our plan provides a development path to incorporate polarimetry as an integral part of future X-ray astronomy missions. We would use the laboratory work described here to demonstrate the function of hardware that we will propose for flight observations.