The PoGOLite balloon-borne soft gamma-ray polarimeter.

Authors :: Kiss, M.
Larsson, S.
Arimoto, M.
Axelsson, M.
Bettolo, C. Marini
Bogaert, G.
Florén, H.-G.
Fukazawa, Y.
Gunji, S.
Hjalmarsdotter, L.
Kamae, T.
Kanai, Y.
Kataoka, J.
Kawai, N.
Klamra, W.
Kurita, K.
Madejski, G.
Mizuno, T.
Olofsson, G.
Pearce, M.
Source :: AIP Conference Proceedings; 9/30/2008, Vol. 1054 Issue 1, p225-232, 8p, 3 Diagrams, 1 Chart, 1 Graph
Publication Year :: 2008
Abstract: Linearly polarized radiation in the hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray band is expected from a large variety of astronomical sources. We discuss the importance of polarimetric studies for several classes of sources-pulsars, accreting black holes, magnetic neutron stars and jets from active galaxies-and then describe PoGOLite, a balloon-borne instrument which is currently under construction and will be able to measure the polarization of electromagnetic radiation from such extra-solar objects in the energy range 25–80 keV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]