The Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer: instrument overview

We report progress in the design of the BepiColombo Mercury Imaging X-ray Spectrometer (MIXS). This instrument consists of two modules; a Wolter I soft X-ray telescope based on radially packed microchannel plate optics (MIXS-T) and a profiled collimator which uses a square pore square packed microchannel plate array to restrict its field of view (MIXS-C). Both instrument modules have identical focal planes (DEPFET macropixel array) providing an energy resolution of better than 200 eV FWHM throughout the mission. The primary science goal of MIXS is to perform X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy of the Hermean surface with unprecedented spatial and energy resolution. This allows discrimination between different regolith types, and by combining with data from other instruments, between competing models of crustal evolution and planetary formation. MIXS will also probe the complex coupling between the planet's surface, exosphere and magnetosphere by observing Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE).

我们报告了贝皮科伦坡水星成像X射线光谱仪（MIXS）设计方面的进展。该仪器由两个模块组成；一个基于径向填充微通道板光学器件的沃尔特I型软X射线望远镜（MIXS - T），以及一个使用方形孔方形填充微通道板阵列来限制其视场的异形准直器（MIXS - C）。两个仪器模块都有相同的焦平面（DEPFET大像素阵列），在整个任务期间提供优于200电子伏特半高宽的能量分辨率。MIXS的主要科学目标是以空前的空间和能量分辨率对水星表面进行X射线荧光光谱分析。这使得能够区分不同的风化层类型，并且通过与其他仪器的数据相结合，能够区分地壳演化和行星形成的相互竞争的模型。MIXS还将通过观测粒子激发X射线发射（PIXE）来探测行星表面、外逸层和磁层之间的复杂耦合。