Water Cherenkov detectors:MILAGRO

This paper discusses the properties of using the water Cherenkov technique to detect air showers in the few hundred GeV to 100 TeV energy range. The responses of a 6 m² 2 m deep water Cherenkov counter and that of a 6 m² 10cm thick scintillator-lead sandwich counter to air shower electrons and photons is described. The advantages of water Cherenkov detector is outlined. Its application to do VHE gamma ray astronomy is discussed with particular reference to the MILAGRO telescope currently under construction. Milagro, a water-Cherenkov detector to do gamma ray astronomy above 100 Gev, uses an existing pool 60m × 80m by 8m, located in the Jemez mountains near Los Alamos, NM. The threshold of the MILAGRO detector is comparable to atmospheric Cherenkov detectors, however it has several advantages over these optical detectors. MILAGRO can operate 24 hours a day in all weather conditions and it has an open aperture which allows it to view the entire northern sky every day. These capabilities allow for a systematic all-sky survey to be done for the first time at these energies. MILAGRO will measure the Crab spectrum with high significance over a wide energy range, it will detect and measure the spectra from AGN's such as MRK 421 and it will search for short duration bursts from GRBs and possibly evaporating PBHs.     

1989年3月大宇宙线暴事件的特征

本文分析了1989年3月一系列大耀斑等离子体抛射引起的宇宙线强度变化的特征.除对中子成分分析外,还对μ介子成分及其各向异性特征作了分析,讨论了宇宙线强度变化与太阳耀斑特性和地磁扰动之间的关系。分析发现,宇宙线的Forbush下降不仅与太阳耀斑的级别、持续时间,以及在日面上的位置有关,而且还与光学耀斑是否伴有强的X射线暴、是否有强的射电爆发,以及是否引起强的地磁暴紧密有关.各向异性分析表明,3月大事件的各向异性明显小于宁静时的各向异性,这可能是因为受到太阳活动强烈调制之后,宇宙线各向异性趋于减小的原因.     

Real time localization of gamma ray bursts with INTEGRAL

The INTEGRAL satellite has been successfully launched in October 2002 and has recently started its operational phase. The INTEGRAL burst alert system (IBAS) will distribute in real time the coordinates of the gamma ray bursts (GRBs) detected with INTEGRAL. After a brief introduction on the INTEGRAL instruments, we describe the main IBAS characteristics and report on the initial results. During the initial performance and verification phase of the INTEGRAL mission, which lasted about two months, two GRBs have been localized with accuracy of 2–4 arcmin. These observations have allowed us to validate the IBAS software, which is now expected to provide quick (few seconds delay) and precise (few arcmin) localization for 10–15 GRBs per year.     

High Excitation ISM and Gas

An overview is given of ISO results on regions of high excitation ISM and gas, i.e. HII regions, the Galactic Centre and Supernova Remnants. IR emission due to fine-structure lines, molecular hydrogen, silicates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and dust are summarised, their diagnostic capabilities illustrated and their implications highlighted. Based on observations with ISO, an ESA project with instruments funded by ESA Member States (especially the PI countries: France, Germany, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom), and with the participation of ISAS and NASA.     

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.     

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。     

管中激光加速器的推力形成过程

管中激光加速器是一种新型的激光推力器,弹射体在管道中被加速。利用光线追踪法,根据光线在网格中的传播路径信息,运用辐射输运方程,得到流场的能量源项;数值求解含能量源项的流体控制方程,对管道中等离子体流场激波的形成和演化过程进行了研究。模型能够模拟空气光学击穿、空气对激光能量的吸收、等离子体对激光的屏蔽作用和推力形成过程,通过计算得到冲量耦合系数为3.61×10-4N/MW,等离子体内能转化为流场动能的比例约为9%。     

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。     

基于可变滑动窗口与3σ准则的脉冲星信号去噪算法

针对地面接收射电观测脉冲星信号较弱、信噪比较低的问题,提出了基于可变滑动窗口与两层3σ准则的信号去噪算法。该算法引入可变滑动窗口,对信号进行分步连续处理,同时在筛选噪声时使用两层3σ准则算法,解决了噪声遗漏及过度去噪问题。为证明算法可靠性与实用性,利用佳木斯66 m观测站实测数据进行算法验证,针对J1939+2134与J1744—1134脉冲星的实测数据进行分析处理。结果表明,该算法能够对脉冲星数据进行有效去噪,普遍提高信噪比约10dB。     

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。