The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission succeeds the Hitomi X-ray Observatory that failed on orbit in 2016. Prior to the failure, Hitomi delivered a ground-breaking observation of the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies’ hot atmosphere. The observations revealed bulk and turbulent velocities and chemical composition with unprecedented detail. XRISM’s Resolve microcalorimeter spectrometer will reveal atmospheric gas motions and chemical compositions of dozens of galaxies and clusters, supernova remnant expansion velocities and chemical compositions, winds from massive black holes, and feedback physics from massive black holes and starbursts. McNamara is the principal investigator and lead of Canada’s effort to calibrate Resolve’s optical blocking filters at the Canadian Light Source in Saskatoon. He is also a member of the XRISM Science Working Group and NASA’s calibration group centered at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA. Scheduled for launch in 2022, Canadian astronomers, along with partners in the Japan, the United States, and Europe, will have access to XRISM through the usual proposal process.
