ECLAIRs, a coded mask aperture telescope onboard the SVOM space mission

Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, F-75013 Paris, France

^* alexis.coleiro@u-paris.fr
^** cyril.lachaud@in2p3.fr

Abstract

We introduce the coded mask imaging technique with a focus on the ECLAIRs instrument onboard the SVOM space mission. Detecting unknown astrophysical transient sources in the hard X-ray band requires monitoring a large part of the sky. Coded mask instruments are well suited to perform these observations. ECLAIRs, thanks to its low energy threshold, will open a new window on the transient universe but it comes with its own challenges, in particular in the design of its coded mask.