Summary
This conference paper describes the FORCE mission, a Japan-led X-ray observatory proposed for launch in the mid-2020s as a successor to Hitomi (ASTRO-H). FORCE aims to achieve broadband X-ray imaging spectroscopy with significantly higher angular resolution and 10-fold greater sensitivity above 10 keV, utilising a 10-metre focal length telescope with silicon mirrors and wide-band detectors. The primary scientific objectives include detecting buried supermassive black holes at cosmological distances, intermediate-mass black holes as potential seeds for supermassive black hole formation, and orphan stellar-mass black holes within our Galaxy, alongside investigation of relativistic particle acceleration at astrophysical shocks.
Key measures
X-ray energy band pass (1–80 keV), angular resolution (< 15 arcseconds half-power diameter), sensitivity above 10 keV relative to previous missions
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