1. Development of a hard X-ray polarimeter for solar flares and gamma-ray bursts
- Author
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James M. Ryan, D. J. Forrest, Mark L. McConnell, J. R. Macri, W. T. Vestrand, M. Osgood, C. Zanes, and M. McClish
- Subjects
Physics ,Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,X-ray astronomy ,Solar flare ,Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors ,business.industry ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,Monte Carlo method ,Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics ,Compton scattering ,Steradian ,Polarimeter ,Astrophysics ,Polarization (waves) ,Optics ,Nuclear Energy and Engineering ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,Gamma-ray burst ,business - Abstract
We describe recent work on the development of a Compton scatter polarimeter for measuring the polarization of hard X-rays (100-300 keV) from astrophysical sources. Results from measurements with a laboratory prototype are summarized, along with comparisons to Monte Carlo simulations. We also present our latest design concept, which envisions a complete polarimeter module on the front end of a 5-inch position-sensitive PMT. Although the emphasis of our development effort is towards measuring hard X-rays from solar flares, our latest design has the advantage that it is sensitive over a rather large field-of-view (>1 steradian), a feature that makes the design especially attractive for /spl gamma/-ray burst studies.
- Published
- 2002
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