Data acquisition system and ground calibration of polarized gamma-ray observer (PoGOLite)

Hiromitsu Takahashi; Maxime Chauvin; Yasushi Fukazawa; Miranda Jackson; Tuneyoshi Kamae; Takafumi Kawano; Mozsi Kiss; Merlin Kole; Victor Mikhalev; Tsunefumi Mizuno; Elena Moretti; Mark Pearce; Stefan Rydström

doi:10.1117/12.2056723

31 July 2014 Data acquisition system and ground calibration of polarized gamma-ray observer (PoGOLite)

Hiromitsu Takahashi, Maxime Chauvin, Yasushi Fukazawa, Miranda Jackson, Tuneyoshi Kamae, Takafumi Kawano, Mozsi Kiss, Merlin Kole, Victor Mikhalev, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Elena Moretti, Mark Pearce, Stefan Rydström

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 91444I (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056723
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

The Polarized Gamma-ray Observer, PoGOLite, is a balloon experiment with the capability of detecting 10% polarization from a 200 mCrab celestial object between the energy-range 25–80 keV in one 6 hour flight. Polarization measurements in soft gamma-rays are expected to provide a powerful probe into high-energy emission mechanisms in/around neutron stars, black holes, supernova remnants, active-galactic nuclei etc. The “pathfinder” flight was performed in July 2013 for 14 days from Sweden to Russia. The polarization is measured using Compton scattering and photoelectric absorption in an array of 61 well-type phoswich detector cells (PDCs) for the pathfinder instrument. The PDCs are surrounded by 30 BGO crystals which form a side anti-coincidence shield (SAS) and passive polyethylene neutron shield. There is a neutron detector consisting of LiCaAlF6 (LiCAF) scintillator covered with BGOs to measure the background contribution of atmospheric neutrons. The data acquisition system treats 92 PMT signals from 61 PDCs + 30 SASs + 1 neutron detector, and it is developed based on SpaceWire spacecraft communication network. Most of the signal processing is done by digital circuits in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). This enables the reduction of the mass, the space and the power consumption. The performance was calibrated before the launch.

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Hiromitsu Takahashi, Maxime Chauvin, Yasushi Fukazawa, Miranda Jackson, Tuneyoshi Kamae, Takafumi Kawano, Mozsi Kiss, Merlin Kole, Victor Mikhalev, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Elena Moretti, Mark Pearce, and Stefan Rydström "Data acquisition system and ground calibration of polarized gamma-ray observer (PoGOLite)", Proc. SPIE 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 91444I (31 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056723

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