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XL-Calibur – a second-generation balloon-borne hard X-ray polarimetry mission.
- Source :
-
Astroparticle Physics . Mar2021, Vol. 126, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- XL-Calibur is a hard X-ray (15-80 keV) polarimetry mission operating from a stabilised balloon-borne platform in the stratosphere. It builds on heritage from the X-Calibur mission, which observed the accreting neutron star GX 301 - 2 from Antarctica, between December 29th 2018 and January 1st 2019. The XL-Calibur design incorporates an X-ray mirror, which focusses X-rays onto a polarimeter comprising a beryllium rod surrounded by Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CZT) detectors. The polarimeter is housed in an anticoincidence shield to mitigate background from particles present in the stratosphere. The mirror and polarimeter-shield assembly are mounted at opposite ends of a 12 m long lightweight truss, which is pointed with arcsecond precision by WASP – the Wallops Arc Second Pointer. The XL-Calibur mission will achieve a substantially improved sensitivity over X-Calibur by using a larger effective area X-ray mirror, reducing background through thinner CZT detectors, and improved anticoincidence shielding. When observing a 1 Crab source for t day days, the Minimum Detectable Polarisation (at 99% confidence level) is ∼ 2 % · t day − 1 / 2 . The energy resolution at 40 keV is ∼ 5.9 keV. The aim of this paper is to describe the design and performance of the XL-Calibur mission, as well as the foreseen science programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *HARD X-rays
*X-rays
*CADMIUM zinc telluride
*POLARIMETRY
*POLARISCOPE
*BALLOONING
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09276505
- Volume :
- 126
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Astroparticle Physics
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 147404353
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.astropartphys.2020.102529