The UK has participated vigorously in Athena since 2014. Since 2015, the UK activities have centred on the WFI instrument. Two major contributions are being made[1]:

  • The graded-Z shield for the WFI camera, designed to reduce the instrumental background produced by particle interactions with the camera and key for achieving the required instrument sensitivity. This element of the project is being designed and validated by the Open University (OU) team.
  • Leading participation in the WFI Instrument Science Centre (WISC). The WISC (together with the complementary ISC for the X-IFU, the XISC) provide a large fraction of the science ground system required for the effective scientific exploitation of Athena. This element of the project is being developed by the University of Leicester (UL) in collaboration with the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL).

 

These activities are funded by the UK Space Agency.

The UK also participates in various wider mission activities, including mission definition studies. ESA’s Athena Science Study Team (ASST) relies on an extensive set of Working Groups (WGs) to carry out in-depth studies of the key areas where the expertise of the community (and UK scientists in particular) is crucial for the full definition of the mission. These activities will continue through the remainder of the mission up to adoption and beyond.

More than 100 UK scientists are members of these WGs and the UK has leading roles in several of these;  Dr James Aird (Edinburgh) is co-chair of the Energetic Universe WG. In addition, Prof. Mike Watson, Prof. Paul O’Brien (all Leicester), Prof. Chris Done (Durham), Prof. Chris Reynolds (Cambridge) and Prof. Graziella Branduardi-Raymont (MSSL) all co-Chair other ASST WGs. These roles clearly represent significant UK leadership within the Athena project. Further information about the WGs and the ASST advisory structure can be found at https://www.the-Athena-x-ray-observatory.eu/community.html.

 

[1] Until recently, Leicester was also developing the Power Conditioning Module (PCM) for the WFI from 2015. Funding for this key role in the detector electronics was withdrawn in 2020 with a saving in costs to launch of ~£10 M.