Constellation-X is a premiere X-ray spectroscopy mission due to launch within the next decade. With a factor of 100 increase in sensitivity over current X-ray spectroscopy missions and an excellent energy resolution of 2 eV at 6 keV, one of the prime science goals of the mission will be to observe activity near the black hole event horizon by measuring changes in the Fe Kα fluorescence emission line profile and time-linked intensity changes between the line and the continuum. Detailed variability studies with Constellation-X will allow us to reconstruct “images” of the accretion disk, probe the effects of strong gravity in the vicinity of black holes and measure black hole mass and spin via deconvolution of the line profile.
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© 2001 American Institute of Physics.
2001
American Institute of Physics
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