A high sensitivity phoswich scintillator X-ray telescope for hard X-ray (20 – 120 keV) astronomy from balloon platform

A large area (400 cm²) low background X-ray telescope consisting of four collimated NaI/CsI scintillator phoswich detectors (each 100 cm²) was built and successfully flown several times during 1980–1984. The phoswich configuration enables one to eliminate X-ray background produced by high energy atmospheric and cosmic gamma-rays. Combined with large area, small field of view (5° × 5°) and large exposure time that was possible due to an on-board telescope pointing programmer, for the 20 – 120 Kev energy range, 3σ sensitivity achieved was 5 × 10⁻⁶ photon/cm² sec Kev for exposure time of 10⁴ sec at observational altitude of 4 g/cm². The Instrument characteristics, relevant details on pointing system, detector system, associated electronics and telemetry and in-flight performance in 1983 and 1984 are presented.     

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.     

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).     

Compact X-ray sources in nearby galaxy nuclei

We have found compact, near-nuclear X-ray sources in 21 (54%) of a complete sample of 39 nearby face-on spiral and elliptical galaxies with available ROSAT HRI data. ROSAT X-ray luminosities (0.2 – 2.4 keV) of these compact X-ray sources are ∼10³⁷ – 10⁴⁰ erg s⁻¹. The mean displacement between the location of the compact X-ray source and the optical photometric center of the galaxy is ∼390 pc. ASCA spectra of six of the 21 galaxies show the presence of a hard component with relatively steep (Γ ≈ 2.5) spectral slope. A multicolor disk blackbody plus power-law model fits the data from the spiral galaxies well, suggesting that the X-ray objects in these galaxies may be similar to a black hole candidate (BHC) in its soft (high) state. ASCA data from the elliptical galaxies indicate that hot (kT ≈ 0.7 keV) gas dominates the emission. The fact that the spectral slope of the spiral galaxy sources is steeper than in normal type 1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and that relatively low absorbing columns (N_H ≈ 10²¹ cm⁻²) were found to the power-law component indicates that these objects are somehow geometrically and/or physically different from AGNs in normal active galaxies. The X-ray sources in the spiral galaxies may be BHCs, low-luminosity AGNs, or possibly X-ray luminous supernovae. We estimate the black hole masses of the X-ray sources in the spiral galaxies (if they are BHCs or AGNs) to be ∼10²–10³ M_⊙. The X-ray sources in the elliptical galaxies may be BHCs, AGNs or young X-ray supernova also.     

The pinhole/occulter facility

The Pinhole/Occulter Facility concept uses a remote occulting mask to provide high resolution observations of the solar corona and of astronomical X-ray sources. With coded-aperture and Fourier-transform techniques, the Pinhole/Occulter makes images at a resolution of 0.2 arc sec for 2 - 120 keV X-rays, using a 50-m boom erected from the payload bay of the Space Shuttle or mounted on a free-flying platform. The remote occulter also creates a large shadow area for solar coronal observations; the Pinhole/Occulter concept includes separate optical and ultraviolet telescopes with 50-cm apertures. These large telescopes will provide a new order of resolution and sensitivity for diagnostic observations of faint structures in the solar corona. The Pinhole/Occulter is a powerful and versatile tool for general-purpose X-ray astronomy, with excellent performance in a broad spectral band complementary to that accessible with AXAF. The large collecting area of 1.5 m² results in a 5σ detection threshold of about 0.02 μJy for the 2 - 10 keV band, or about 10^?5 ph(cm²sec keV)^?1 at 20 keV.     

Hard X-ray observation of galactic X-ray sources

A large (1455 cm²) hard X-ray telescope was successfully launched aboard a stratospheric balloon on October 4, 1980. During this flight four galactic X-ray sources were observed, namely the transient recurrent X-ray pulsar A0535+26, the Crab Nebula, Cygnus X-1 and X Persei. Here we report the results on the latter two sources. From Cygnus X-1 we measured a photon flux in the band 30 to 200 keV, of 3.5 × 10^?2 photons cm^?2 which is 6.5 times lower than that recieved from the source in a “low” intensity state in the same energy band. In addition, the photon spectrum in the same energy band was very soft and consistent with a power law with photon index α = 2.71 ± 0.14. Even if a simultaneous observation of the source at lower energies was not available, our data strongly suggest that we observed the source during a “high” intensity state. We report also positive detection in the band 30 to 200 keV of the low luminosity X-ray pulsar X Persei. In its spectrum we confirm the presence of a hard X-ray tail consistent with a power law (photon index α = 2.17 ± 0.42).     

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.     

Gamma-ray burst detection capabilities of comptel

The imaging gamma-ray telescope COMPTEL, capable of detecting gamma rays in the 1 to 30 MeV range, is one of four experiments onboard NASA's Gamma-Ray Observatory GRO. Besides its primary objectives COMPTEL will contribute to the understanding of cosmic gamma-ray bursts. Summarising, COMPTEL localises bursts (S (E > 1 MeV) ≥ 2.10⁻⁶ erg/cm²) within 1 sr FOV to better than 1° at medium gamma-ray energies, measures continuum energy spectra in the range 0.1 MeV to 20 MeV with fluence S ≥ 6.9 10⁻⁷ erg/cm² (5σ, E≥100 keV), measures gamma-ray lines with detector resolution 9.6% (at 0.5 MeV) and 7.0% (at 1.5 MeV) and determines time histories of both gamma-ray line and continuum emission with t ≥ 0.1 sec resolution.     

The X-ray spectrometer experiment on the first spacelab flight

The First Spacelab Flight - scheduled for September 1983 - will carry a multidisciplinary payload intended to demonstrate that valuable scientific results can be achieved with such short duration missions. The payload complement includes a spectrometer to undertake observations of the brighter cosmic X-ray sources. The primary scientific objectives of this experiment are the study of detailed spectral features in cosmic X-ray sources and their associated temporal variations over a wide energy range from about 2 keV up to 80 keV. The instrument based on the gas scintillation proportional counter, will have an effective area of some 180 cm² with an energy resolution of ～ 9% FWHM at 7 keV. The key performance parameters of the instrument, which include calibration results and the sensitivity of the planned observations, are discussed.     

A directional gamma-ray telescope using coded aperture techniques

A directional detector for γ-ray astronomy has been developed to image sources in the energy range 0.1 to 5 MeV. An array of 35 gain stabilized bismuth germanate detectors, together with a coded aperture mask based on a Uniformly Redundant Array (URA), allows imaging in 4° square sky bins over a 16° X 24° field-of-view. The position of a strong point source, such as the Crab Nebula, can be determined to within ?1°. A complementary “anti-mask” greatly reduces systematic effects arising from non-uniform background rates amongst the detectors. The telescope has an effective area of 190 cm² and an energy resolution of 19.5% FWHM at 662 keV. Results of laboratory tests of the imaging system, including the ability to image multiple sources, uniformity of response over the field-of-view, and the effect of the “anti-mask”, are in good agreement with computer simulations. Features of the flight detector system are described and results of laboratory tests and computer simulations are reviewed. A balloon flight of the telescope is planned for the fall of 1982.     

Observations of galactic gamma-radiation with the SMM spectrometer

Preliminary results from the SMM γ-ray spectrometer indicate the detection of a constant source of 0.511 MeV annihilation radiation from the Galaxy. This source was observed in each of 5 years as the region of the Galactic center passed through the instrument's ∼120° field of view. Any year-to-year variability appears to be less than 30%. The measured intensity of the source is model dependent: for a point source at the center the average flux is (1.6 - 2.9) × 10⁻³ γ cm⁻² s⁻¹; for a distributed source following the Galactic CO emission the flux is (1.4 - 2.7) × 10⁻³ γ cm⁻² s⁻¹ rad⁻¹ (uncertainty is due primarily to systematic errors). It is likely that the radiation comes from a diffuse source and is not associated with the reported compact source at the Galactic center. We have no new information to report on the distribution of ²⁶Al γ-rays. Upper limits of 1.5 × 10⁻³ γ cm⁻² s⁻¹ are placed on Doppler-shifted lines from SS433.     

GRASP — A gamma-ray astronomy mission dedicated to the fine spectroscopy and positioning of celestial gamma-ray sources

The GRASP Mission - Gamma Ray Astronomy with Spectroscopy and Positioning - will be the first high resolution spectral imager to operate in the gamma-ray region of the spectrum. The instrument covers the photon energy range from approximately 15 keV to more than 100 MeV. A combination of discrete germanium solid state devices and scintillation counters form a position sensitive gamma-ray detection matrix which is operated in conjunction with a coded aperture mask to create arc minute images of the gamma-ray sky with a spectral resolution of typically λ/Δλ ∼1000. The use of a coded mask with a ‘zoom’ facility will permit the combination of field of view and angular resolution to be adjusted to suit the scientific aims of each observation. The respective continuum and line sensitivities will be typically 10⁻⁸ph cm⁻² s⁻¹ keV⁻¹ and 3 10⁻⁶ cm⁻² s⁻¹ for point sources of gamma-rays with photon energies close to 1 MeV.     

JUXTA: A new probe of X-ray emission from the Jupiter system

For the future Japanese exploration mission of the Jupiter’s magnetosphere (JMO: Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter), a unique instrument named JUXTA (Jupiter X-ray Telescope Array) is being developed. It aims at the first in-situ measurement of X-ray emission associated with Jupiter and its neighborhood. Recent observations with Earth-orbiting satellites have revealed various X-ray emission from the Jupiter system. X-ray sources include Jupiter’s aurorae, disk emission, inner radiation belts, the Galilean satellites and the Io plasma torus. X-ray imaging spectroscopy can be a new probe to reveal rotationally driven activities, particle acceleration and Jupiter–satellite binary system. JUXTA is composed of an ultra-light weight X-ray telescope based on micromachining technology and a radiation-hard semiconductor pixel detector. It covers 0.3–2 keV with the energy resolution of <100 eV at 0.6 keV. Because of proximity to Jupiter (∼30 Jovian radii at periapsis), the image resolution of <5 arcmin and the on-axis effective area of >3 cm² at 0.6 keV allow extremely high photon statistics and high resolution observations.     

Supernova remnant 1987A: The latest report from the Chandra X-ray Observatory

We continue monitoring supernova remnant (SNR) 1987A with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. As of 2004 January, bright X-ray spots in the northwest and the southwest are now evident in addition to the bright eastern ring. The overall X-ray spectrum, since 2002 December, can be described by a planar shock with an electron temperature of ∼2.1 keV. The soft X-ray flux is now 8 × 10⁻¹³ ergs cm⁻² s⁻¹, which is about five times higher than four years ago. This flux increase rate is consistent with our prediction based on an exponential density distribution along the radius of the SNR between the HII region and the inner ring. We still have no direct evidence of a central point source, and place an upper limit of L_X = 1.3 × 10³⁴ ergs s⁻¹ on the 3–10 keV band X-ray luminosity.     

X-ray observations from the space shuttle

The flight of the University of Birmingham X-ray Telescope, which took place between 29th July and 6 August 1985 is reviewed. Despite the competing demands of twelve other investigations on-board, it was found possible to plan an observing programme for the XRT which enabled a good (43%) utilisation of the total operating time to be achieved, and then to carry out this programme with high efficiency. An important element here was the inclusion within the XRT of a pointing mount, which enabled it to point with a degree of independence of the Orbiter vehicle. The background of spurious events in the detector, due mainly to energetic particles, was found to be low and well-behaved, except for occasional events which are not easy to distinguish from X-ray bursts. The spectral intensity of unrejected background varies from about 2.10⁻³/cm²sec keV at 8 keV to 5.10⁻⁴/cm² sec keV at 25 keV.     

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).     

The solar wind shock termination

We analyse the possibility that the shock termination of the solar wind should occur at a heliocentric distance of 50 a.u. It is concluded that this is possible if the density of the interstellar medium near the Sun is of the order of 0.5 cm⁻³, or the pressure of low energy cosmic rays (less than about 300 MeV/nucleon) is of the order of 6×10⁻¹² dyn cm⁻², or the interstellar magnetic field strength is of the order of 8 microgauss, or some suitable combination of these. Such conditions would not normally be expected to prevail in the interstellar medium in the neighbourhood of the Sun. However, the possibility that a supernova explosion occurred nearby some 10⁵–10⁶ years ago must be taken seriously and in such circumstances the required conditions may be relatively easily achieved.     

The ROSAT mission

A primary scientific objective of the ROSAT mission is to perform the first all-sky survey with an imaging X-ray telescope leading to an improvement in sensitivity by several orders of magnitude compared with previous surveys. A large number of new sources (? 10⁵) will be discovered and located with an accuracy of 1 arcmin or better. These will comprise almost all astronomical objects from nearby normal stars to distant quasistellar objects. After completion of the survey which will take half a year the instrument will be used for detailed observations of selected sources with respect to spatial structure, spectra and time variability. In this mode which will be open for guest observers ROSAT will provide substantial improvement over the imaging instruments of the Einstein observatory.The main ROSAT telescope consists of a fourfold nested mirror system with 83 cm aperture having three focal plane instruments. Two of them will be imaging proportional counters (0.1 – 2 keV) providing a field of view of 2°, an angular resolution of ≈ 30″ in the pointing mode and a spectral resolution ^ΔE/E ≈ 45% FWHM at 1 keV. The third focal instrument will be a high resolution imager (≈ 3″). The main ROSAT telescope will be complemented by a parallel looking Wide Field camera which extend the spectral coverage into the XUV band.     

XMM-Newton observations of the Mouse,SLX 1744–299 and SLX 1744–300

We observed the radio and X-ray source G359.23–0.82, also known as “the Mouse”, with XMM-Newton. The X-ray image of this object shows a point-like source at the Mouse’s “head”, accompanied by a “tail” that extends for about 40″ westward. The morphology is consistent with that observed recently with Chandra [Gaensler, B.M., van der Swaluw, E., Camilo, F., et al. The Mouse that soared: high resolution X-ray imaging of the pulsar-powered bow shock G359.23–0.82, ApJ 616, 383–402, 2004]. The spectrum of the head can be described by a power-law model with a photon index Γ ≃ 1.9. These results confirm that the Mouse is a bow-shock pulsar wind nebula (PWN) powered by PSR J1747–2958. We found that the hydrogen column density toward the Mouse, N_H = (2.60 ± 0.09) × 10²² cm⁻², is 20%–40% lower than those toward two serendipitously detected X-ray bursters, SLX 1744–299 and SLX 1744–300. At a plausible distance of 5 kpc, the X-ray luminosity of the Mouse, L(0.5–10 keV) = 3.7 × 10³⁴ erg s⁻¹, is 1.5% of the pulsar’s spin-down luminosity. We detected a Type I X-ray burst from SLX 1744–300 and found a possible decrease of N_H and persistent luminosity for this source, in comparison with those observed with ROSAT in 1992.     

The position sensitive low energy detector on board the ZEBRA telescope

In order to improve the low energy capability (15 ÷ 150 KeV) of the balloon borne “ZEBRA” low energy gamma imaging telescope (150 KeV-20 MeV), a large area, high spectral resolution (5% at 60 KeV), low background detector has been designed and is now under development.It consists of two MultiWire Spectroscopic Proportional Counter (SPC), escape gated, that have a sensitive area of 6000 cm², and are placed above the large area array of sodiumiodide position sensitive elements.