EXITE Home Page



Introduction
The EXITE project at Harvard (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) is developing novel hard x-ray (~20-600 keV) x-ray telescopes and detectors for the study of neutron stars, black holes and active galactic nuclei. A first-generation system, EXITE1, employed a 34cm diameter NaI scintillator and image intensifie
readout and was flown successfully from Ft. Sumner, NM, and Alice Springs, Australia. A key result was the discovery of a new transient source near the galactic center (Grindlay, Covault and Manandhar 1993, A&AS, 97, 155). EXITE2 is the current second-generation system employing a position-sensitive phoswich scinitillator as the primary detector. Development of a third-generation (EXITE3) telescope employing Cd-Zn-Te imaging detectors is underway.

Science
EXITE2 is capable of imaging X-ray sources in the 30-600 keV energy band.  Many neutron star binaries, black holes binaries and Active Galactic Nuclei exhibit non-thermal spectra extending up to several hundered keV.  By observing at these energies,  we can gain insight into the dynamical processes occuring in the innermost region between the central object and the accretion disk.

EXITE Payload Development
EXITE2 Phoswich Detector
Star Camera
CZT Detector (EXITE3)

Related Links
Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST)
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
CfA High Energy Astrophysics Division
 EXITE Team
Send e-mail to: Jonathan Grindlay
This page last updated on September 9, 1999.