Paper 13093-275
Paper 13093-275
Ground calibration of the BlackCAT CubeSat x-ray Coded Aperture Telescope
On demand | Presenting live 19 June 2024 
Abstract
BlackCAT is a NASA-funded 6U CubeSat mission planned to be launch-ready in early 2025. BlackCAT will use its wide field-of-view and arcminute-scale localization to identify gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), gravitational-wave counterparts, and other high-energy transient events. The mission will send rapid alerts after detection of a transient event, enabling prompt follow-up from other ground- and space-based observatories. The science instrument is a coded aperture telescope, using a focal plane with four Speedster-EXD550 event-driven X-ray hybrid CMOS detectors (HCDs) and a gold-plated nickel coded mask to localize source positions. We describe methods for the calibration of the coded-aperture instrument using Penn State’s 47-meter X-ray beamline. We also briefly discuss plans for in-flight commissioning and calibration.
Presenter
The Pennsylvania State Univ. (United States)
Joseph Colosimo is a graduate student at the Pennsylvania State University, currently working toward his PhD in astronomy and astrophysics. He received his BS degree in physics from Georgia Institute of Technology in 2018. His research interests include the development and characterization of x-ray detectors and their applications to the BlackCAT CubeSat and other future high-energy astrophysics missions.