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The design and flight performance of the PoGOLite Pathfinder balloon-borne hard X-ray polarimeter |
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| Authors: | M Chauvin H-G Florén M Jackson T Kamae T Kawano M Kiss M Kole V Mikhalev E Moretti G Olofsson S Rydström H Takahashi J Lind J-E Strömberg O Welin A Iyudin D Shifrin M Pearce |
| Institution: | 1.Department of Physics,KTH Royal Institute of Technology,Stockholm,Sweden;2.The Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics,AlbaNova University Centre,Stockholm,Sweden;3.Department of Astronomy,Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Centre,Stockholm,Sweden;4.Department of Physics,University of Tokyo,Tokyo,Japan;5.Department of Physical Science,Hiroshima University,Hiroshima,Japan;6.DST Control,Link?ping,Sweden;7.Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics,Moscow State University by M. V. Lomonosov,Moscow,Russia;8.Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, Central Aerological Observatory,Moscow,Russia;9.Geneva University,Geneva,Switzerland;10.Max-Planck-Institut für Physik,München,Germany |
| Abstract: | In the 50 years since the advent of X-ray astronomy there have been many scientific advances due to the development of new experimental techniques for detecting and characterising X-rays. Observations of X-ray polarisation have, however, not undergone a similar development. This is a shortcoming since a plethora of open questions related to the nature of X-ray sources could be resolved through measurements of the linear polarisation of emitted X-rays. The PoGOLite Pathfinder is a balloon-borne hard X-ray polarimeter operating in the 25-240 keV energy band from a stabilised observation platform. Polarisation is determined using coincident energy deposits in a segmented array of plastic scintillators surrounded by a BGO anticoincidence system and a polyethylene neutron shield. The PoGOLite Pathfinder was launched from the SSC Esrange Space Centre in July 2013. A near-circumpolar flight was achieved with a duration of approximately two weeks. The flight performance of the Pathfinder design is discussed for the three Crab observations conducted. The signal-to-background ratio for the observations is shown to be 0.25 ±0.03 and the Minimum Detectable Polarisation (99 % C.L.) is (28.4 ±2.2) %. A strategy for the continuation of the PoGOLite programme is outlined based on experience gained during the 2013 maiden flight. |
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