X-ray synchrotron nebulae and the origin of neutron stars

“With all reserve, we advance the view that a supernova represents the transition of an ordinary star into a neutron star.”This conclusion, reached just 50 years ago in a classic paper by Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky (1934), was published three decades before the first direct observational evidence for the existence of neutron stars was uncovered. It still informs the standard picture of neutron star production in the Galaxy. We examine herein some recent evidence bearing on this question which has been derived from Observatory X-ray observations of supernova remnants and radio pulsars. In particular, the discovery that X-ray synchrotron nebulae are found surrounding most young ( 10⁶ yr) pulsars observed to date is discussed. We explore the implications of the lack of such nebulae in the majority of supernova remnants (SNR) for the properties and frequency of neutron star formation in supernova events.     

Magnetar spectra and twisted magnetospheres

The huge potential drop between the footpoints of the closed field lines in the twisted magnetospheres of magnetars may accelerate electrons up to very high energies, γ ? 10⁶. On the other hand, the comparison between the observed spectra of magnetars and spectra obtained by accurate theoretical models seems to favor of a picture in which the magnetosphere is filled by “slow” electrons (v ? 0.8c), rather than by ultra-relativistic particles.     

Investigating gamma-ray burst data reduction techniques with Swift’s instruments

The amount of data on gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the detected afterglows observed by the Swift satellite contributed significantly to the understanding of the phenomenon. The behavior of the early afterglow rises some interesting questions. With the early afterglow localizations of gamma-ray burst positions made by Swift, the clear delimitation of the prompt phase and the afterglow is not so obvious any more. There are hints of a canonical X-ray afterglow lightcurve with segments of different slopes. Not all bursts necessarily show all the segments. It is important to see if the prompt phase and the afterglow has the same origin or they stem from different parts of the progenitor system. We will combine the of gamma-ray burst data from BAT and XRT and compare the extrapolated gamma-ray flux to the X-ray in a sample of bursts and find that there is a good agreement between the two measurements. This indicates that the physical process shaping burst and the early afterglow are the same.     

Modeling the broadband persistent emission of magnetars

In this paper, we discuss our first attempts to model the broadband persistent emission of magnetars within a self-consistent, physical scenario. We present the predictions of a synthetic model that we calculated with a new Monte Carlo 3D radiative code. The basic idea is that soft thermal photons (e.g. emitted by the star surface) can experience resonant cyclotron upscattering by a population of relativistic electrons treated in the twisted magnetosphere. Our code is specifically tailored to work in the ultra-magnetized regime; polarization and QED effects are consistently accounted for, as well different configurations for the magnetosphere. We discuss the predicted spectral properties in the 0.1–1000 keV range, the polarization properties, and we present the model application to a sample of magnetars soft X-ray spectra.     

A fast pulse phase estimation method for X-ray pulsar signals based on epoch folding

X-ray pulsar-based navigation (XPNAV) is an attractive method for autonomous deep-space navigation in the future. The pulse phase estimation is a key task in XPNAV and its accuracy directly determines the navigation accuracy. State-of-the-art pulse phase estimation techniques either suffer from poor estimation accuracy, or involve the maximization of generally non-convex object function, thus resulting in a large computational cost. In this paper, a fast pulse phase estimation method based on epoch folding is presented. The statistical properties of the observed profile obtained through epoch folding are developed. Based on this, we recognize the joint prob-ability distribution of the observed profile as the likelihood function and utilize a fast Fourier transform-based procedure to estimate the pulse phase. Computational complexity of the proposed estimator is analyzed as well. Experimental results show that the proposed estimator significantly outperforms the currently used cross-correlation (CC) and nonlinear least squares (NLS) estima-tors, while significantly reduces the computational complexity compared with NLS and maximum likelihood (ML) estimators.     

ASTROSAT

The ASTROSAT satellite is an Indian National Space Observatory under development in India. Due for launch in 2010, ASTROSAT will carry a complement of five scientific instruments enabling simultaneous observations from the optical through to the hard X-ray energy band. This capability will enable broad-band spectroscopy and high time-resolution monitoring of both galactic and extra-galactic targets, such as X-ray binaries and AGN. One of the instruments is being built in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and another in collaboration with the University of Leicester. ASTROSAT also carries a scanning sky monitor to observe the variable X-ray sky. After an initial period of science verification and guaranteed time, a certain fraction of ASTROSAT observing time will also be made available to the community via a call for proposals. Here I summarise the instrument complement and principle scientific objectives of the mission.     

UKF方法在脉冲星自主导航中的应用

针对X射线脉冲星自主导航中的非线性系统滤波问题,将无迹卡尔曼滤波方法应用于自主导航计算过程中。首先,在简述脉冲星导航可行性的基础上,研究了脉冲星自主导航系统的基本原理和实施方案。然后,根据牛顿二体引力模型构建了航天器运动状态方程,根据脉冲到达时间模型建立了系统观测方程,并对二者进行了误差分析和建模。最后,将UKF算法应用于航天器自主导航过程中,仿真结果表明该方法能够实现航天器自主导航信息的解算。     

利用增量相位和星光仰角增强XNAV

针对X射线脉冲星导航系统(XNAV)中过程噪声统计特性难以准确获取,对其不当假设导致滤波器估计性能不佳的问题,提出基于自适应差分卡尔曼滤波器(ADDF)的多信息融合算法。为了降低导航误差,在传统脉冲星计时观测的基础上,增加恒星星光仰角及两个时刻间的相位增量观测量,共同增强XNAV。首先,分别建立计时观测模型、相位增量模型及星光仰角模型;然后将多信息测量模型集成到卫星轨道动力学方程中,以建立ADDF滤波模型;最后对所提方法进行仿真验证。实验结果表明,在相同的初始状态和初始噪声误差条件下,与传统X射线脉冲星导航算法相比,多信息融合算法能将导航位置估计精度提高70%以上,位置估计误差降低到 200 m 左右,速度估计精度提高40%以上,且ADDF性能优于无迹卡尔曼滤波器。     

X射线脉冲星导航硬件脉冲轮廓累积研究

为了在X射线脉冲星地面实验系统仿真源模拟产生X射线的基础上,能够快速稳定地得到脉冲轮廓,采用硬件历元叠加的方法获得脉冲轮廓。研究了用硬件实现历元叠加及其数据整合的算法,该算法首先在MATLAB现场可编程逻辑阵列(FPGA)中实现,再通过MATLAB硬件描述语言(HDL)代码生成模块把算法转换成HDL,经编译后获得配置硬件的Bit文件,最终在开发板FPGA上实现数据处理的硬件模块。一段时间内的光子到达时间数据通过MATLAB算法得到的脉冲轮廓数据与通过硬件模块处理后得到的数据结果存在误差,在单个时间窗口内误差最大值为2个光子数,误差平均值占光子数统计平均值的0.084%;两组统计的脉冲轮廓数据中不同数据占总数据个数的9.481%,这样的误差不影响后端模拟导航模块的导航。利用硬件实现的历元叠加及其数据整合模块具有处理速度快、设备紧凑、功耗低的特点,为航天器利用X射线脉冲星导航提供了一种可行的硬件数据处理技术上的支持。     

基于Monte Carlo的聚焦型X射线脉冲星望远镜多物理场耦合分析方法

聚焦型X射线脉冲星望远镜(XPT)是涉及光学、机械学、热学等多学科的复杂航天载荷,多物理场耦合分析对提高其在轨性能和可靠性至关重要。传统的光机热多场耦合分析(MCA)方法并不能考虑X射线能量及其反射率信息,而且存在学科间数据传递困难的问题。为此,首先基于Monte Carlo和X射线全反射理论提出了一种高效的多物理场耦合分析方法。该方法同时考虑X射线能量和反射率两大特征信息,基于有限元分析(FEA)法建立了XPT热-结构物理场耦合方程和有限元分析模型,针对不同工况进行热分析、结构分析以及热-结构物理场耦合分析。其次,采用Construction Geometry函数分别提取不同工况下光学镜头面形的形变量,并基于多项式函数对变形后的镜头面形进行拟合和误差分析。然后,基于所提方法对变形后的光学系统聚焦性能进行分析与评价,得到镜头形变对XPT光学聚焦性能的影响规律。最后,以多层嵌套的XPT为例,对不同视场角和形变的X射线光学系统聚焦性能进行了仿真分析。结果表明,在全视场时热-结构耦合形变、热形变及结构形变导致XPT聚焦性能分别下降30.01%,14.35%和7.85%,弥散斑均方根依次为2.9143 mm,2.6038 mm,2.5311 mm。通过与试验结果对比分析,验证了所提方法的有效性,可用于XPT的可靠性设计。