The SAX mission

SAX denotes the X-Ray Astronomy Satellite selected by the Italian National Space Plan for inclusion in the Science Programme. The purpose of SAX is to perform spectroscopic, spectral and time variability studies of celestial X-Ray sources in the energy band from 1 to 200 KeV. It is intended to continue and expand upon previous observations of such sources. The instrumentation consists of four X-Ray imaging concentrators sensitive from 1 to 10 KeV (one of them extending down to 0.1 KeV), one Gas Scintillation Proportional Counter sensitive from 3 to 120 KeV, a Sodium Iodide Scintillator Crystal in Phoswich configuration operating from 15 KeV to 200 KeV; these detectors are coaligned to a common pointing axis. Three Wide Field Cameras (2–30 KeV) with axis at 90° to that of the narrow field instruments complete the payload.The Satellite launch is foreseen for 1988, in a low altitude (500 Km), low inclination (12°) orbit.The SAX scientific programme is carried out by a Consortium of Italian Institutes, in cooperation with Institutes from Holland; a partecipation of the Space Science Department of ESA is also foreseen.     

The POKER experiment: A 10,800 cm2 MWPC's array payload for hard X-Ray Astronomy

In this paper the POKER-HXR81M hard X-Ray payload is described. The instrument, designed and built at the Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale of Frascati, is a very large array of MultiWire Proportional Counters (MWPC) devoted to stratospheric observations of cosmic sources in the field of hard X-Ray Astronomy. The payload basically consists of four passively collimated MWPC's having a geometric sensitive area of 2,700 cm² each with an efficiency higher than 10% in the operative range 15–200 KeV (80% at 60 KeV) with a square field of view of 5° × 5° FWHM. The overall spectral resolution is 13% at 60 KeV. The four MWPC's are filled with a very pure gas mixture of Xenon-Argon-Isobuthane at high pressure (3 bars).This experiment has been successfully flown during summer 1981 from the Milo balloon facility (Sicily, Italy). The performances of the payload and the preliminary results obtained during the 17 hours flight are discussed.     

Induction of asymmetrical type of chromosomal aberrations in cultured human lymphocytes by ion beams of different energies at varying let from HIMAC and RRC

Frequencies of asymmetrical type of chromosome aberration were scored in cultured human blood lymphocytes irradiated with carbon and neon beams. Blood cells were irradiated with various doses to establish dose response curves for chromosome aberration frequency vs. dose, and chromosome preparation was made by conventional method. Dose response curves for the per cell frequencies of the dicentrics and centric rings as well as the excess amount of acentric fragments were described for 7 different qualities (LET= 22.4, 40.0, 41.5, 69.9, 70.0, 100.0 and 150 KeV/μm) of carbon and neon beams with three different energies, 135, 290 and 400 MeV/u. From the analysis of those dose response curves, the maximum effect was found in the region of LET value at near 70 KeV/μm together with linear expression in the response from all endpoints examined. The 135 MeV/u of carbons (69.9 KeV/μm) and neons (70.0 KeV/μm) showed linear response. The 290 MeV/u of carbons (100 KeV/m) and neons (150 KeV/μm) showed medium effects with different shape of response, linear with a plateau and upward concavity. The 2 carbon beams (41.5 and 40 KeV/μm) from 2 different accelerators showed much discrepancy in the response. RBE-LET relationship was also described by comparing the coefficient of the 7 different dose responses. The peak (near 70 KeV/m) was localized colse to that (80 KeV/m) for the survivals of dsb repair deficient cells (Eguchi-Kasai et al. 1998), but in different position from that previously reported in many other studies (100–200 KeV/mm). Identification of the RBEmax in the present study has yet to be definitive.     

FIGARO: An experiment for pulsar and variable source studies in the MeV range

We present a large area, balloon borne, NaI(Tl) detector for low-energy gamma rays with temporal signature : FIGARO.The main detector is a mosaic of 12 NaI(Tl) tiles 22.5 × 15 × 5 cm, for a total geometric area of 4050 cm².In the energy band 140 keV - 6 MeV, the expected background counting rate at float altitude is in the range of two to three thousands counts per second.For pulsar analysis the expected 3δ sensitivity for 5 hours exposition time is 2.5 10^?4 ph/cm².s.MeV (150–500 keV) 1.5 10^?4 ph/cm².s.MeV (1–6 MeV). This performance, together with the large effective area and the relatively short duration of a balloon flight, make FIGARO particularly suitable for the identification of sources by means of temporal analysis.For objectives in the Northern sky, including the Crab pulsar, a transmediterranean flight is planned for the summer of 1982 ; a Southern mission is scheduled in Brazil for the fall of 1983 (Vela, PSR 1822-09).     

Charged-particle mutagenesis II. Mutagenic effects of high energy charged particles in normal human fibroblasts.

The biological effects of high LET charged particles are a subject of great concern with regard to the prediction of radiation risk in space. In this report, mutagenic effects of high LET charged particles are quantitatively measured using primary cultures of human skin fibroblasts, and the spectrum of induced mutations are analyzed. The LET of the charged particles ranged from 25 KeV/micrometer to 975 KeV/micrometer with particle energy (on the cells) between 94-603 MeV/u. The X-chromosome linked hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (hprt) locus was used as the target gene. Exposure to these high LET charged particles resulted in exponential survival curves; whereas, mutation induction was fitted by a linear model. The Relative Biological Effect (RBE) for cell-killing ranged from 3.73 to 1.25, while that for mutant induction ranged from 5.74 to 0.48. Maximum RBE values were obtained at the LET of 150 keV/micrometer. The inactivation cross-section (alpha i) and the action cross-section for mutant induction (alpha m) ranged from 2.2 to 92.0 micrometer2 and 0.09 to 5.56 x 10(-3) micrometer2, respectively. The maximum values were obtained by 56Fe with an LET of 200 keV/micrometer. The mutagenicity (alpha m/alpha i) ranged from 2.05 to 7.99 x 10(-5) with the maximum value at 150 keV/micrometer. Furthermore, molecular analysis of mutants induced by charged particles indicates that higher LET beams are more likely to cause larger deletions in the hprt locus.     

An imaging telescope for soft gamma-ray astronomy: The preliminary in-flight tests

A large area (6000 cm²) actively shielded low energy gamma-ray telescope is going to be built by an Anglo-Italian collaboration. The telescope, named ZEBRA, will be capable of producing images of the X and gamma ray sky in the energy range 0.015–20 MeV with an intrinsic angular resolution of a few tenths of a degree. A prototype detector has been built in order to experimentally study the main characteristics of the detection plane. The preliminary results obtained during a balloon flight from Trapani, Sicily in July 1981 are presented.     

Unique biological aspects of radiation hazards--an overview.

Low orbit, geostationary, and deep-space flights differ from one another with respect to particle radiation environment, participating population size, mission duration, and biological risks other than radiation. It is proposed that all of these factors be considered in the setting of safety standards and, in particular, that the rem-dose concept is applicable only to radiations having low and intermediate linear energy transfer (electrons, protons, and helium ions), whereas the incidence of microlesions is a more meaningful indicator of the hazard due to higher-Z, high energy (HZE) particles. A microlesion is the biological injury inflicted in a specific tissue by a single HZE particle, and it is still in need of quantitative biological definition for specific mammalian tissues. If for example, a microlesion is taken as due to a HZE particle track 10 cell diameters long with LET > 200 KeV/micrometer in its core and > 25 rad dose in its penumbra at a distance of 10 micrometers, then the microlesion dose rate in geostationary orbit, for example, is about 9,000 microlesions per cm3 of tissue per month.     

Hard X-ray observations of Cygnus X-1 with the MISO telescope

The black hole candidate Cygnus X-1 was observed in the hard X ray - soft γ ray energy range by the MISO telescope on two different occasions: in September 1979 and May 1980. We have measured two hard X-ray states of the source: in 1979 the observed spectrum confirms the superlow state measured in the same period by the HEAO-3 satellite, while in 1980 the MISO X-ray data are consistent with the so called low state of Cygnus X-1. In both occasions, no γ -ray excess has been observed above 200 KeV.     

Dark Matter searches with GLAST

The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), scheduled to be launched in fall 2007, is the next generation satellite for high-energy gamma-ray astronomy. The Large Area Telescope (LAT), GLAST main instrument, with a wide field of view (>2 sr), a large effective area (>8000 cm² at 1 GeV) and 20 MeV–300 GeV energy range, will provide excellent high energy gamma-ray observations for Dark Matter searches. In this paper we examine the potential of the LAT to detect gamma-rays coming from WIMPS annihilation in the context of supersymmetry. As an example, two search regions are investigated: the galactic center and the galactic satellites.     

Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on-board Chandrayaan-2 rover

Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) payload configuration for Chandrayaan-2 rover has been completed recently and fabrication of mechanical assembly, PCB layout design and fabrication are in progress. Here we present the design and performance evaluation of various subsystems developed for APXS payload. The low energy threshold of <1 keV and the energy resolution of ∼150 eV at 5.9 keV, for the Silicon Drift Detector (SDD), as measured from the developed APXS electronics is comparable to the standard spectrometers available off-the-shelf. We have also carried out experiments for measuring fluorescent X-ray spectrum from various standard samples from the USGS catalog irradiated by the laboratory X-ray source ²⁴¹Am with 1 mCi activity. It is shown that intensities of various characteristic X-ray lines are well correlated with the respective elemental concentrations.     

Guidance and control of a balloon-borne X-ray telescope with onboard and ground based computers

The balloon payload HEXE ^A) is designed to observe cosmic X-ray sources in the energy range 20–250 keV. Its detectors are ‘Phoswich’ scintillators with a total sensitive area of 2300 cm² and a cooled Ge solid state detector with an area of 100 cm² [1]. The instrument was flown successfully in 1980 and 1981 from Palestine, Texas.Here we describe the control of the instrument and guidance of the telescope as well as the method of data retrieval and real time analysis. These tasks are performed by a ground based minicomputer (HP 1000) and onboard microprocessors (M 6800) which are linked together by data and command telemetry.     

Hard X-rays emission from active galactic nuclei

The X-Rays emission from Active Galactic Nuclei has been known since the first observations obtained by Uhuru. their X-Rays spectra are determining to investigate the radiation process and for the diffuse X-Rays background problem.We will present spectral observations of AGN's in the range 20–100 KeV obtained with a one square meter area balloon borne experiment.From the comparison with previous data a clear evidence of flux variability is obtained.     

The low energy gamma-ray experiments on GRO in perspective

The NASA Gamma-Ray Observatory, GRO, will carry two instruments for low energy gamma-ray astronomy. The ‘Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment - OSSE’ represents the latest step in the evolution of collimated detectors. A large detection area, simultaneous source and background observation and rigorous control over systematic errors yield significant improvements in sensitivity over earlier instruments. The ‘Imaging Compton Telescope - COMPTEL’ brings the proven concept of the Compton telescope to the state of the art level. Position sensitive scintillation detectors make it possible to generate sky images with a resolution of about 2° over a f.o.v. of about 1 sr. The complementary nature of these two experiments promises a first in-depth exploration of the sky in a wavelength range which covers the transition from the X-ray sky to the apparently unrelated high energy gamma-ray sky. Possible directions of further evolution of these experiments will be discussed.     

Positive ion distributions in the morning auroral zone: Local acceleration and drift effects

We report on the typical structure of the large scale ion precipitation in the morning sector of the auroral zone and associated low frequency electromagnetic waves. Data obtained during near radial passes of the AUREOL-3 satellite point to a distinction between two main precipitation regions: 1) In the poleward part of the auroral zone the latitudinal variation of the average energy (or temperature) of the precipitated ions (mainly H⁺) indicate that they are adiabatically accelerated in the outer magnetosphere. This “high energy” (? 3 to > 20 keV) precipitation is usually associated with a low energy (E < 110 eV) upward flowing 0⁺ and H⁺ component, and 2) near the boundary between discrete and diffuse electron aurorae a drastic change in the ion characteristics is observed. The flux of energetic precipitated H⁺ ions is sharply reduced, which suggests the formation of an Alfvén layer. However, intense fluxes of precipitated H⁺, O⁺, and He⁺ ions with energies < 3 keV are observed equatorward of the Alfvén layer, in coincidence with the diffuse aurora and in association with quasi-monochromatic electromagnetic waves with frequencies around the proton gyrofrequency. As the characteristic convection and bounce times of the low energy upward flowing ion component are comparable (τ > 3 hours) we suggest that the precipitation of ionospheric ions inside the diffuse aurora results from convection and corotation of the ions accelerated to suprathermal energies at higher latitudes.     

Low energy galactic cosmic rays in the heliosphere

The flux of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) extends over a wide range of energies (from 10⁸ to 10²⁰ eV); it has a strong dependence on particle energy. Given the large span of energies the detection techniques, transport mechanisms and other characteristics vary as energy increases. In the low energy region (<10¹² eV) the flux of GCR is modulated by the solar activity. Continuous registers are necessary to study intensity variations that must have their origin in the Sun. Detectors were designed and constructed for the purpose, they operate since the middle of the last century providing valuable information to study recurrent periodicities and their relationship to those of solar phenomena, but also to elucidate whose are the relevant transport mechanisms inside the heliosphere. A brief review of the advancement in the comprehension of these phenomena is presented.     

Simulation experiments of the cosmic ray isotope telescope on ETS VI

A computer simulation was carried out to evaluate the basic characteristics of a Δ E×E cosmic ray telescope consisting of 23 solid state detectors including 3 position sensitive detectors with large effective area. Based on the simulation, the geometric factor of the telescope is deduced to be as large as 22.5 cm²sr, almost independent of charge and energy concerned. The energy ranges to be covered by the telescope are, for example, 18–98 MeV/n for Li and 56–339 MeV/n for Fe. By analyzing simulated data, the mass resolution for iron in the overall energy range covered by the telescope is estimated as about 0.22 amu in standard deviation. The expected counting rates and mass-histograms are simulated for Galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles.     

The scaler mode in the Pierre Auger Observatory to study heliospheric modulation of cosmic rays

The impact of the solar activity on the heliosphere has a strong influence on the modulation of the flux of low energy galactic cosmic rays arriving at Earth. Different instruments, such as neutron monitors or muon detectors, have been recording the variability of the cosmic ray flux at ground level for several decades. Although the Pierre Auger Observatory was designed to observe cosmic rays at the highest energies, it also records the count rates of low energy secondary particles (the scaler mode) for the self-calibration of its surface detector array. From observations using the scaler mode at the Pierre Auger Observatory, modulation of galactic cosmic rays due to solar transient activity has been observed (e.g., Forbush decreases). Due to the high total count rate coming from the combined area of its detectors, the Pierre Auger Observatory (its detectors have a total area greater than 16,000 m²) detects a flux of secondary particles of the order of ∼10⁸ counts per minute. Time variations of the cosmic ray flux related to the activity of the heliosphere can be determined with high accuracy. In this paper we briefly describe the scaler mode and analyze a Forbush decrease together with the interplanetary coronal mass ejection that originated it. The Auger scaler data are now publicly available.     

Energy input in solar flares and coronal explosions

A coronal explosion is a density wave observed in X-ray images of solar flares. The wave occurs at the end of the impulsive phase, which is the time at which the flare's thermal energy content has reached its maximum value. It starts in a small area from where it spreads out, mainly into one hemisphere, with velocities that tend to rapidly decrease with time, and which are between ～ 10³ and a few tens of km s^?1. We interpret them as magneto-hydrodynamic waves that (mainly) move downward from the low corona into denser regions.     

A large area multitechnique experiment for hard X-ray astronomy

A balloon-borne multitechnique large area experiment consisting of 2 co-aligned detectors (3200 cm² NaI and 1800 cm² multiwire proportional counters), is described, which is capble of producing observations of the hard X-ray sky with very high sensitivity and good spectral resolution over the whole operative range (15–300 keV).     

Long duration hard X-ray transatlantic payload

This note describes the HXR80M large area hard X-Ray Astronomy experiment. The payload is scheduled for a flight on board of a transatlantic balloon to be launched the next July from the Milo Base (Sicily), in the framework of the CNR experimental transatlantic campaign.The detectors are two Multiwire Spectroscopic Proportional Chambers (MWSPC) having 2,700 cm² sensitive area each.The two detectors are filled with an extremely pure Xenon-Isobutane mixture (impurity less than 1ppm) at high pressure (3–6 Atm) in order to obtain good spectral resolution and high efficiency. The field of view of the MWSPC's is limited by an array of three collimators each, having respectively 8°×8° and 5°×5° FWHM.The on board data handling is performed by microprocessor controlled electronics. In particular a micro Multichannel Analyzer (μMCA) is employed to obtain the spectrum of the detected photons. The scientific and housekeeping data are send to ground through a 1.2 Kbit PCM HF Telemetry link.The scientific aim of the experiment is the survey of the sky belt around the 38th parallel and in particular the observation of faint galactic objects and galactic binary systems in the range 15–200 keV.