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Welcome to the ProtoEXIST web site at
CfA
ProtoEXIST is a balloon-borne wide-field hard X-ray
survey project, which is a prototype experiment for a next
generation hard X-ray survey mission - the Energetic X-ray
Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST). EXIST
was recommended by the 2001 Decadal Survey and further
developed as a candidate for Black Hole Finder Probe
(BHFP) under the NASA Beyond Einstein program and then for
the 2010 Decadal Survey. Although not recommended (on cost grounds)
by the Astro2010 Survey, the science objectives and capabilities of
EXIST are consistent
with priorities recommended in the Astro2010 Survey Report and Panel
Reports.
A Hard X-ray (5-100 keV; with response to 200 keV) imaging survey of at
least half the sky is needed for 1) A high resolution (5X finer than
Swift/BAT)
survey of the Galactic Bulge and full southern galactic plane
to locate transients, obscured black holes and Ti-44 sources for
followup with NuSTAR and Astro-H, 2) Time Domain Astrophysics studies of
the Bulge, southern Plane and North Galactic Pole with coverage each
96min orbit, and 3) Broader-band, higher spatial resolution studies of
GRBs, with identification of Advanced LIGO short GRBs as well as novel
opportunities for ground-based 24h coverage of southern-sky GRBs.
ProtoEXIST2 (P2) is a technology development pathfinder for the proposed
(Mission of Opportunity under the Explorer Program) Hard X-ray Imager
(HXI) for the MIRAX-HXI mission. P2/HXI is currently
being developed at CfA along with key collaborators at Caltech, NASA GSFC,
and (for our balloon gondola) at NASA MSFC. The MIRAX-HXI mission
is planned for launch by Brazil in 2016.
Please direct any questions or comments on the website to jhong@cfa.harvard.edu.
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