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Performance of the X-Calibur hard X-ray polarimetry mission during its 2018/19 long-duration balloon flight
Washington Univ St Louis, 1 Brookings Dr,CB 1105, St Louis, MO 63130 USA.;Washington Univ, McDonnell Ctr Space Sci, St Louis, MO USA..
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences (SCI), Physics, Particle and Astroparticle Physics. AlbaNova Univ Ctr, Oskar Klein Ctr Cosmoparticle Phys, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden..ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6134-8105
Univ New Hampshire, Space Sci Ctr, Dept Phys & Astron, 8 Coll Rd, Durham, NH 03824 USA..
KTH, School of Engineering Sciences (SCI), Physics, Particle and Astroparticle Physics. AlbaNova Univ Ctr, Oskar Klein Ctr Cosmoparticle Phys, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden..ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5191-9306
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Number of Authors: 312022 (English)In: Astroparticle physics, ISSN 0927-6505, E-ISSN 1873-2852, Vol. 143, p. 102749-, article id 102749Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

X-Calibur is a balloon-borne telescope that measures the polarization of high-energy X-rays in the 15-50 keV energy range. The instrument makes use of the fact that X-rays scatter preferentially perpendicular to the polarization direction. A beryllium scattering element surrounded by pixellated CZT detectors is located at the focal point of the InFOC mu S hard X-ray mirror. The instrument was launched for a long-duration balloon (LDB) flight from McMurdo (Antarctica) on December 29, 2018, and obtained the first constraints of the hard X-ray polarization of an accretion-powered pulsar. Here, we describe the characterization and calibration of the instrument on the ground and its performance during the flight, as well as simulations of particle backgrounds and a comparison to measured rates. The pointing system and polarimeter achieved the excellent projected performance. The energy detection threshold for the anticoincidence system was found to be higher than expected and it exhibited unanticipated dead time. Both issues will be remedied for future flights. Overall, the mission performance was nominal, and results will inform the design of the follow-up mission XL-Calibur, which is scheduled to be launched in summer 2022.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier BV , 2022. Vol. 143, p. 102749-, article id 102749
Keywords [en]
X-ray, Polarization, Instrumentation
National Category
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-316452DOI: 10.1016/j.astropartphys.2022.102749ISI: 000830204300001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85133615723OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-316452DiVA, id: diva2:1688295
Note

QC 20220818

Available from: 2022-08-18 Created: 2022-08-18 Last updated: 2022-08-18Bibliographically approved

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Iyer, NirmalKiss, MózsiPearce, Mark

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