LOFT: THE LARGE OBSERVATORY FOR X-RAY TIMING

LOFT, the large observatory for X-ray timing, was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) in February 2011 as one of four medium size mission concepts for the Cosmic Vision program that will compete for a launch opportunity in the early 2020s. LOFT will carry out high-time resolution (10 μs) and spectroscopic observations (<260 eV) of compact objects in the X-ray band (2-80 keV), with unprecedented throughput, thanks to its 10 m² effective area. LOFT will address the fundamental questions of the Cosmic Vision Theme “Matter under extreme conditions”: What is the fundamental equation of state of a compact object? Does matter orbiting close to the event horizon follow the predictions of general relativity?