Science Analysis Group
Lynx 2030
The Lynx 2030 Science Analysis Group (SAG) will investigate the science case of an updated flagship X-ray observatory concept based heavily on the Lynx mission submitted for the 2020 Decadal Astronomy Study. This SAG has open membership, including volunteers from PhysPAG and the broader astrophysical community.
About Lynx 2030 SAG
Lynx 2030 SAG Will Build On the Work of the Lynx Concept Study Report
The Lynx concept study report is an excellent baseline for what the flagship X-ray mission submitted to the 2030 Decadal Survey may look like.
The primary goal of this Science Analysis Group is to revisit the Lynx science portfolio and reference design model in the context of the current astronomy landscape.
Subscribe to the Lynx 2030 SAG Email List about Lynx 2030 SAG Will Build On the Work of the Lynx Concept Study Report
The Lynx 2030 Science Analysis Group (SAG) will investigate the science case of an updated flagship X-ray observatory concept based heavily on the Lynx mission submitted for the 2020 Decadal Astronomy Study. Rather than start a mission concept from scratch, this group will build on the work of the Lynx Concept Study report to (1) examine how scientific developments and planned missions, since the report, impact the science drivers detailed in the report and (2) identify additional science investigations enabled by expanding/enhancing Lynx capabilities while still maintaining the same basic architecture as the Lynx DRM.
To prepare for the next decadal survey, it is essential to reassess the scientific goals of the original Lynx Concept Study for the upcoming decade of X-ray astrophysics. Rather than start from scratch, this group will build on the work of the Lynx Concept Study report to (1) examine how scientific developments and planned missions, since the report, impact the science drivers detailed in the report and (2) identify additional science investigations enabled by expanding/enhancing Lynx capabilities while still maintaining the same basic architecture as the Lynx DRM.
To the latter point, this group’s activity will focus on identifying the science cases unlocked by having:
- Higher angular resolution, in particular 0.2", 0.1", and 0.05" imaging capabilities
- Broader bandpass, perhaps going up to 20 keV and down to 100 eV
- Larger FOV
- < 2 eV energy resolution over entire FOV
- Additional capabilities that would fit in existing architecture, such as polarimetry
- Enhanced focus on time domain capabilities
This SAG has open membership, including volunteers from PhysPAG and the broader astrophysical community. Each of the six capabilities listed above would have a working group (WG) devoted to investigating the science possible with said capability. An additional WG will assess the changed scientific and mission landscape since the Lynx study report.
The SAG will be chaired by Steven Ehlert (MSFC) and Fabio Pacucci (SAO) with co-chairs of each WG to be solicited from the community and selected by the XR SIG chairs. The SAG
would begin work immediately and gather community inputs through email, virtual meetings, and special sessions at the 22nd HEAD meeting and 247th AAS meeting.
Each WG will set its own meeting schedule, and the entire SAG will hold monthly meetings. The goal is to deliver a report edited by the chairs and community members of the SAG to NASA HQ in 2026.
SAG Chairs
| Name | Institution |
|---|---|
| Steven Ehlert | MSFC |
| Fabio Pacucci | SAO |
Agenda for the Lynx 2030 SAG
The Lynx concept study report is an excellent baseline for what the flagship X-ray mission submitted to the 2030 Decadal Survey may look like. In fact, the Astro 2020 Decadal Survey was supportive of the necessity of an X-ray flagship mission, to be developed after the Habitable World Observatory, and called for a slightly “descoping” of the Lynx Concept.
However, the astronomy environment of 2025 has significantly changed since the 2018/2019 development cycle of the Lynx Concept. Since then, Lynx-adjacent missions such as JWST, IXPE, and XRISM have been launched. These missions have made significant new discoveries that directly impact the science case laid out initially by Lynx. At the same time, the Lynx CSR was submitted long before the AXIS probe call and the redesign effort that transformed Athena into NewAthena. The primary goal of this Science Analysis Group is to revisit the Lynx science portfolio and reference design model in the context of the current astronomy landscape.
The main studies of interest in this SAG are to identify the extent to which new science, relevant for the 2030 Decadal, can be unlocked by updating design requirements. are looking to divide this SAG’s primary mission into six working groups, operating largely independent of one another; however, any member of the larger SAG can support as many of the working groups as they wish. Each working group will self-select a chair who will then help define specific questions surrounding the science case of the working group’s design element of interest. We emphasize that our key priority is to understand the scientific potential of modifications to the Lynx design: in other words, what new science can be performed by a concept with slight modifications of the original Lynx Concept. This SAG is NOT the appropriate venue to discuss the detailed engineering or budget realities associated with adding new design requirements.
We expect all SAG activities to be completed around the beginning of May 2026, with final reports delivered to the Physics of the Cosmos (PhysCOS) Program Office and the NASA’s Astrophysics Division leadership by the 1st of June 2026.
Lynx 2030 SAG Working Groups
Lynx Design Requirement for Angular Resolution
Lynx has a 0.5” design requirement for its angular resolution, driven primarily by deep field AGN and X-ray binary surveys using the HDXI imager. While that study does not require repeating, we are interested in other scientific drivers that may justify higher resolution requirements. For example, a 0.1” angular resolution corresponds to resolving 1 kpc outflows in galaxies at z =2 and below. Does this enable a new science capability currently not available to Lynx? In addition, a higher angular resolution can be crucial to detect Dual AGN, which can support theoretical predictions for LISA and beyond.
In their analysis of the new data from Webb, scientists were able to identify nearly 60 new, embedded cluster candidates in NGC 7496. These newly identified clusters could be among the youngest stars in the entire galaxy.
New Detector Technologies
New detector technologies have matured that may offer Lynx brand new science cases, such as polarization sensitive imagers like those aboard IXPE; superconducting tunnel junction detectors with 10 eV energy resolution but less stringent cooling requirements compared to a microcalorimeter; or faster readout imaging detectors for timing studies or lower backgrounds. These new capabilities may be especially important given the important science discoveries of IXPE and XRISM. Would such detectors make for a compelling science case not currently available to the existing instrument suite? How many targets might be available for these more specialized observing modes if they had Lynx mirrors in front of them?
Lynx Mirror Design
The Lynx mirrors were designed to have ~ 2 m2 of effective area around 1 keV, which is necessary to reach the high redshift AGN driving a significant fraction of the science. If the mirrors + detector could be designed in such a way to increase the effective area at 10 keV from its current 1,000 cm2 or have appreciable effective area out to a higher energy (e.g., 20 keV,) would that enable new important scientific discoveries not currently in the Lynx portfolio? Is there a specific energy band beyond 10 keV where the scientific gain is significantly enhanced or diminished?
Faster or More Efficient Observations
Lynx is primarily designed for deep pointings with a field of view of 22 arcminutes across (HDXI) or 5 x 5 arcminutes (LXM). With regard to both instruments, a wider field of view could enable more survey-like science. This could also mean faster or more efficient observations of extended objects such as supernova remnants and galaxy clusters. To what extent would faster surveys enable new and important discoveries?
Performance of Microcalorimeter Detectors
Chair: John ZuHone (CfA)
The performance of microcalorimeter detectors in the lab and in flight has changed significantly since the Lynx CSR. These improvements in multiplexing and energy resolution capability may require a reconsideration of the LXM architecture. The LXM had three detector arrays (5 x 5 arcminutes with 1” pixels and 3 eV resolution, 1 x 1 arcminutes with 0.5” pixels and 2 eV resolution, and a separate 1 x 1 arcminute FOV with 1” pixels and 0.3 eV resolution). Would changes to this configuration, such as providing 2 eV energy resolution across the entire 5’ field of view, make for a stronger science case?
Time Domain Capabilities Mentioned in the Original Lynx CSR Were Not Thoroughly Investigated
With several high-cadence surveys coming online, especially in the optical, and with recent discoveries regarding the variable Universe, the time domain will undoubtedly receive greater focus in Lynx2030.
This working group will investigate what scientific insights can be unlocked by enhancing Lynx2030's time-domain capabilities.
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