ASCENT - A balloon-borne hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy telescope using transition edge sensor microcalorimeter detectors

Understand

Core collapse supernovae are thought to be one of the main sources in the galaxy of elements heavier than iron.

• Understanding the origin of the elements is thus tightly linked to our understanding of the explosion mechanism of supernovae and supernova nucleosynthesis.
• X-ray and gamma-ray observations of young supernova remnants, combined with improved theoretical modeling, have resulted in enormous improvements in our knowledge of these events.
• The isotope ${}^{44}$Ti is one of the most sensitive probes of the innermost regions of the core collapse engine, and its spatial and velocity distribution are key observables.