Development of a high energy X-ray polarimeter for small satellites

Author

Gunji, S. ; Austin, R.A. ; Elsner, R.F. ; Ramsey, B.D. ; Weisskopf, M.C.

Author_Institution

Nat. Res. Council, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA

Volume

1

fYear

1996

Firstpage

89

Abstract

We are developing a Thomson-scattering-type polarimeter sensitive in the energy range from 10 keV to 20 keV for a small satellite. The polarimeter consists of three beryllium disks as scatterers and a cylindrical position-sensitive proportional counter as a detector of the scattered X-rays. Its performance has been investigated through computer simulations. From these, it was concluded that the polarimeter can obtain a modulation factor of 34%, a detection efficiency of ~10%, and a minimum detectable polarization of about 3.0% for Her X-1 in 2 keV bands and a 2×10⁵ sec observation

Keywords

X-ray astronomy; X-ray detection; astronomical instruments; beryllium; position sensitive particle detectors; proportional counters; stellar polarimetry; 10 to 20 keV; Be; Thomson-scattering-type polarimeter; beryllium disks; cylindrical position-sensitive proportional counter; detection efficiency; high energy X-ray polarimeter; scattered X-rays; small satellites; Azimuthal angle; Computer simulation; Councils; Instruments; NASA; Polarization; Position sensitive particle detectors; Radiation detectors; Satellites; X-ray scattering;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Nuclear Science Symposium, 1996. Conference Record., 1996 IEEE

ISSN

1082-3654

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3534-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NSSMIC.1996.590912

Filename

590912