The MAXI Mission on the ISS: Science and Instruments for Monitoring All Sky X-Ray Images

TL;DR

The MAXI mission on the ISS is designed to monitor the entire sky in X-ray wavelengths, providing continuous, high-sensitivity observations of X-ray sources such as AGN, with unprecedented coverage and detection capabilities.

Contribution

This paper introduces the MAXI instrument on the ISS, detailing its advanced capabilities for all-sky X-ray monitoring and its potential to surpass previous X-ray monitors in sensitivity and coverage.

Findings

MAXI will monitor hundreds of AGN simultaneously.

It can detect X-ray sources down to 0.2 mCrab over two years.

MAXI provides all-sky images with high temporal resolution.

Abstract

The MAXI (Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image) mission is the first astronomical payload to be installed on the Japanese Experiment Module-Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) on the ISS. It is scheduled for launch in the middle of 2009 to monitor all-sky X-ray objects on every ISS orbit. MAXI will be more powerful than any previous X-ray All Sky Monitor (ASM) payloads, being able to monitor hundreds of AGN. MAXI will provide all sky images of X-ray sources of about 20 mCrab in the energy band of 2-30 keV from observation on one ISS orbit (90 min), about 4.5 mCrab for one day, and about 1 mCrab for one month. A final detectability of MAXI could be 0.2 mCrab for 2 year observations.