A negative ion time projection chamber x-ray polarimeter for transient sources

Zachary R. Prieskorn; J. Kevin Black; Joanne E. Hill; Michael J. Strube; Christian E. Urba; Keith M. Jahoda; Philip E. Kaaret

doi:10.1117/12.857665

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29 July 2010 A negative ion time projection chamber x-ray polarimeter for transient sources

Zachary R. Prieskorn, J. Kevin Black, Joanne E. Hill, Michael J. Strube, Christian E. Urba, Keith M. Jahoda, Philip E. Kaaret

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Proceedings Volume 7732, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 77322Z (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857665
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

A gamma-ray burst polarimeter (GRBP) is being developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for measuring the Xray polarization of energetic transients in the 2 - 10 keV energy range. The primary goal is to measure the polarization of the prompt X-ray emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in order to distinguish between the possible emission mechanisms. The instrument could also be capable of measuring polarization from other X-ray transients, such as soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) or black hole transients. An instrument with a wide field of view is required to detect transient events and a large collecting area is required to have sufficient sensitivity. The GRBP is a time projection chamber (TPC) that uses negative ions as a charge carrier enabling a large volume, high spatial resolution detector. We describe a GRBP prototype that is suitable for a sounding rocket measurement of the Crab Nebula or for measurements of bright transient sources from a small satellite.

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Zachary R. Prieskorn, J. Kevin Black, Joanne E. Hill, Michael J. Strube, Christian E. Urba, Keith M. Jahoda, and Philip E. Kaaret "A negative ion time projection chamber x-ray polarimeter for transient sources", Proc. SPIE 7732, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 77322Z (29 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857665

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