Speaker
Description
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have recently attracted significant attention as powerful probes of the early Universe because of their extreme brightness and approximately power- law spectral shapes. \textit{HiZ-GUNDAM} is a proposed JAXA mission planned for launch in the 2030s, aiming to explore the early Universe through observations of high-redshift GRBs. The mission carries the wide-field soft X-ray monitor EAGLE, which detects and localizes GRBs in the 0.4–4.0 keV band over a field of view of 0.53 sr. Follow-up observations and redshift identification are performed by the optical/near-infrared telescope MONSTER, with subsequent observations by large ground- and space-based observatories such as JWST and Subaru. In EAGLE, X-ray photons are focused by Lobster-Eye micro pore optics (MPOs) and detected by pnCCD image sensors on the focal plane. The MPOs employ a spherical geometry in which micropores arranged along the curved surface act as reflective channels, enabling nearly uniform imaging performance across the wide field of view. The optics can also be extended modularly by arranging multiple MPO segments; the current EAGLE design consists of 16 modules, each composed of nine MPOs. We have established a practical alignment methodology that compensates for segment-to- segment variations among MPOs through optimized segment selection and alignment-angle adjustment, achieving the EAGLE localization requirement of 3 arcmin at 1σ. In addition, the observational efficiency and localization capability of the EAGLE system for high-redshift GRBs have been evaluated through experimental measurements of the point spread function and effective area. In this presentation, we report the prototype development of the EAGLE system together with experimental demonstrations of its construction technology and scientific performance for future high-redshift GRB observations.
