Multi Messenger Astrophysics

Updated: July 5th, 2023 Category: Science

STROBE-X is the Multi-Messenger X-ray instrument. It has a large instantaneous field of view, down to a new, order-of-magnitude lower flux regime. It can provide immediate positions accurate enough for ground-based follow-up, the ability to do rapid high resolution and high sensitivity spectroscopy, and has exquisite timing capabilities.

Gravitational Waves and Compact Object Mergers:

  • With positions immediately accurate to less than two arcminutes and a fast slew rate, STROBE-X has the capability to detect 10s of short duration gamma-ray bursts per year coincident with gravitational wave emission from binary neutrons star mergers or neutron star-black hole mergers.
  • STROBE-X will be able to place constraints on the existence and lifetime of a supramassive or hypermassive neutron star following a binary neutron star merger.
  • STROBE-X can detect modulated emission associated with mass transfer between two ultracompact white dwarf binaries, coincident with gravitational wave emission.

Gravitational Waves and SMBH and IMBH Object Mergers

  • STROBE-X will be sensitive to the quasi-periodic X-ray emission precursors before Super Massive Black Hole (SMBH) and Intermediate Mass Black Hole (IMBH) mergers, as well as characteristic Fe-Kalpha line broadening, coincident with gravitational wave emission.

Neutrinos and Supernovae

  • STROBE-X is sensitive to X-rays from supernova shock breakout shortly after the supernova's neutrinos are detected by next generation neutrino detectors.

Neutrinos and Jets

  • STROBE-X is sensitive to the hard X-ray emission that are the necessary target photons for neutrinos in blazar jets, as well as jets from stellar mass central engines such as microquasars and GRBs.