First Results from HaloSat – A CubeSat to Study the Hot Galactic Halo

Presenter Information

Philip Kaaret, University of Iowa
Anna Zajczyk, University of Iowa
Daniel LaRocca, University of Iowa
D. L. Kirchner, University of Iowa
W. T. Robison, University of Iowa
Jesse Bluem, University of Iowa
W. Fuelberth, University of Iowa
H. Gulick, University of Iowa
J. Haworth, University of Iowa
R. McCurdy, University of Iowa
D. Miles, University of Iowa
Rebecca Ringuette, University of Iowa
T. J. Roth, University of Iowa
E. Silich, University of Iowa
R. Wearmouth, University of Iowa
C. Whitaker, University of Iowa
K. W. White, University of Iowa
Keith Jahoda, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Thomas E. Johnson, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
M. Matthews, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
L. H. Santos, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
B. Dingwall, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Steve Schneider, Blue Canyon Technologies
C. Esser, Blue Canyon Technologies
T. Golden, Blue Canyon Technologies
Doug Laczkowski, Blue Canyon Technologies
Kip D. Kuntz, John Hopkins University
D. Koutroumpa, Université Versailles Saint-Quentin

Session

Technical Session III: Year in Review I

Location

Utah State University, Logan, UT

Abstract

HaloSat is the first CubeSat for astrophysics funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate and is designed to map soft X-ray oxygen line emission across the sky in order to constrain the mass and spatial distribution of hot gas in the Milky Way. HaloSat will help determine if hot halos with temperatures near a million degrees bound to galaxies make a significant contribution to the cosmological budget of the normal matter (baryons). HaloSat was deployed from the International Space Station in July 2018 and began routine science operations in October 2018. We describe the on-orbit performance including calibration of the X-ray detectors and initial scientific results including an observation of a halo field and an observation of solar wind charge exchange emission from the helium-focusing cone.