Abstract
THESEUS is a medium size space mission of the European Space Agency, currently under evaluation for a possible launch in 2032. Its main objectives are to investigate the early Universe through the observation of gamma-ray bursts and to study the gravitational waves electromagnetic counterparts and neutrino events. On the other hand, its instruments, which include a wide field of view X-ray (0.3-5 keV) telescope based on lobster-eye focussing optics and a gamma-ray spectrometer with imaging capabilities in the 2-150 keV range, are also ideal for carrying out unprecedented studies in time domain astrophysics. In addition, the presence onboard of a 70 cm near infrared telescope will allow simultaneous multiwavelegth studies. Here we present the THESEUS capabilities for studying the time variability of different classes of sources in parallel to, and without affecting, the gamma-ray bursts hunt.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 309-406 |
Number of pages | 98 |
Journal | Experimental Astronomy |
Volume | 52 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 16 Nov 2021 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 31 Dec 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Authors from the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) are grateful for the support received through the agreement ASI-INAF n. 2018-29-HH.0. LH acknowledges Science Foundation Ireland grant 19/FFP/6777 and EU H2020 grant no. 871158. AP acknowledges financial support from the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) under agreements ASI-INAF I/037/12/0 and ASI-INAF n.2017- 14-H.0 and from INAF ‘Sostegno alla ricerca scientifica main streams dell’INAF’, Presidential Decree 43/2018.
Keywords
- Variability
- X-ray sources
- X-rays surveys
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science