Realising the full potential of X-ray astronomy in the UK

TL;DR

This paper discusses the advancements and future prospects of X-ray astronomy in the UK, emphasizing recent missions, scientific opportunities, and the need for cohesive community efforts amidst budget constraints.

Contribution

It reviews recent and upcoming X-ray missions, highlights scientific opportunities, and proposes community collaboration to sustain UK leadership in the field.

Findings

Recent missions like AstroSat and Hitomi have advanced high sensitivity X-ray observations.

Upcoming all-sky surveys will open new parameter spaces for exploration.

Community efforts are essential to maintain UK’s role in X-ray astronomy.

Abstract

X-ray astronomy is our gateway to the hot universe. More than half of the baryons in the cosmos are too hot to be visible at shorter wavelengths. Studying the extreme environments of black hole and neutron star vicinities also requires X-ray observations. With the successful launch of ISRO's AstroSat in 2015, and a few transformative results that emerged from JAXA's Hitomi mission in 2016, a new window has been opened into high sensitivity fast timing and high X-ray spectral resolution. Together with upcoming all-sky survey missions expected very soon, X-ray astronomy is entering a new era of parameter space exploration. The UK has been at the forefront of this field since the 1970s. But flat cash science budgets, compounded with the rising costs of cutting-edge space missions, imply inevitably diminishing roles for the UK in terms of both payload development and science exploitation in the future. To review the novel science possibilities enabled by recent and upcoming missions, and to discuss how to pave the way forward for X-ray astronomy in the UK, a specialist RAS discussion meeting was held in London on Feb 10 2017, summarised herein. A consolidated effort by the community to come together and work cohesively is a suggested natural first step in the current climate.