First results from the OGRESS sounding rocket payload

Abstract

We present the first results from the Off-plane Grating Rocket for Extended Source Spectroscopy (OGRESS) sounding rocket payload based at the University of Iowa. OGRESS is designed to perform moderate resolution (R~10- 40) spectroscopy of diffuse celestial x-ray sources between 0.3 – 1.2 keV. A wire grid focuser constrains light from diffuse sources into a converging beam that feeds an array of off-plane diffraction gratings. The spectrum is focused onto Gaseous Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors. OGRESS launched on the morning of May 2, 2015 and collected data for ~5 minutes before returning via parachute. OGRESS observed the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant with the goal of obtaining the most accurate physical diagnostics thus far recorded. During the flight, OGRESS had an unexpectedly high count rate which manifested as a highly uniform signal across the active area of the detector, swamping the expected spectrum from Cygnus. Efforts are still in progress to identify the source of this uniform signal and to discover if a usable spectrum can be extracted from the raw flight data.