1. High Energy Astrophysics
- Detectors & Missions
Dr. Gerald J. (Jerry) Fishman
NASA – Marshall Space Flight Center
Huntsville, AL USA July 4, 2002

2. High Energy Astrophysics
Usual Methods of Study:
X-ray Astronomy
Gamma-Ray Astronomy
Cosmic Ray Astrophysics
But Also:
Radio, Optical, IR, …
(And Two New Astronomies:
Neutrino Astronomy
Gravitational Astronomy )

3. Electromagnetic Spectrum / Temperature Scale

4. V.F. Hess (1883-1964) – Nobel Prize 1936
C.R. Discovery
V.F. Hess ( ) – Nobel Prize 1936

5. X-ray & Gamma-Ray “Telescopes”
Collimator
Coded Aperture
Grazing Incidence Mirror
Nothing (Un-collimated) .
Aperture:
Detector:
CCD
Proportional Counter
Scintillation Detector .

6. Gamma-Ray “Telescopes” :
High-Energy
Gamma-Ray “Telescopes” :
- Compton Telescope
- Pair-tracking Telescope
- Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope

7. High-Energy Photon Interactions - the Basis for all Detectors
Photoelectric Effect
Compton Scattering
Pair Production

8. Photoelectric Interaction
Photon knocks out a bound electron, losing all of its energy to the electron
CCDs, Proportional Counters, Scintillation Detectors, . .

9. Scintillation Detectors, Compton Telescope
Compton Scattering
Photon scatters off of an electron, losing part of its energy to the electron and continues in another direction
Scintillation Detectors, Compton Telescope

10. Used in: Pair-tracking Telescope
Pair Production
A very high energy electron interacts with matter and produces an electron-positron pair (E=mc2)
Used in: Pair-tracking Telescope

11. UHURU (SAS-1) First X-ray Astronomy Satellite 1970-1974

12. High Energy Astronomy Observatory
HEAO Program:
High Energy Astronomy Observatory
- Had Observational Support from AAVSO

13. The Great Observatories (4) :
Hubble Space Telescope ~2010
Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory
Chandra X-Ray Observatory ~2010
SIRTF (Space InfraRed Telescope Facility) ~2006
High Energy Missions

14. X-Ray Astronomy Collimated Detectors (Non-Focusing)
( - Primarily for sky surveys and timing studies)
Timeframe
Uhuru (SAS-1), ANS, Ariel-5,
SAS-3, HEAO-A1, … s
EXOSAT, WATCH/GRANAT, … 1980s
BeppoSAX, Rossi-XTE s

15. Focusing X-Ray Optics

16. X-ray Astronomy (Focusing)
Einstein (HEAO-2)
Currently in Orbit & Operational:
CHANDRA XMM-Newton
Future:
XEUS
Constellation-X

17. Constellation – X (Con-X)
Four identical satellites
~100x present sensitivity
Launched singly or in pairs
Extended truss in orbit

18. Constellation – X (Con-X)
Two Spacecraft in Atlas V Shroud

20. Constellation-X Sensitivity

21. XEUS
The Xeus Mirror Spacecraft:

22. XEUS
Two-Component S/C
- flying in formation with Space Station

23. Gamma-Ray Astronomy – Future Developments CGRO
Hard X-rays
& GRBs Nuclear H.E. Gammas (>20 MeV)
BATSE OSSE COMPTEL EGRET
HETE-2
SWIFT INTEGRAL
Future: GLAST
EXIST - Distant Future ACT Distant Future
CGRO

24. SWIFT ~1000 GRBs studied over a three year period
arcsec positions for each GRB
Multiwavelength observatory (gamma, X-ray, UV and
optical)
20-70s reaction time
Five times more sensitive than BATSE
Spectroscopy from keV
Six colors covering nm
Capability to directly measure redshift
GRB Positions publicly distributed within seconds

25. SWIFT

26. The INTEGRAL Mission Scheduled for Launch: Oct. 2002
Two Major Instruments: IBIS & SPIE
Energy Range: 15 keV to 20 MeV

27. The SPIE Instrument on the INTEGRAL Spacecraft
Coded Aperture >>
Coded Aperture >>
Ge Detector Array >>

28. GLAST

29. GLAST Large Area Telescope (LAT) Pair-Tracker Section >>
Scintillation Detector >>

30. GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM)
Principal Investigator: Charles Meegan, MSFC
No. Detectors: 14
NaI  (12)    5keV - 1 MeV
BGO  (2)    150 keV - 30 MeV
Un-collimated Scint.
Detector Array

31. Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST)
Obscured AGNs
GRBs out to z ~ (~20X BATSE; ~5X Swift sensitivity)
All-sky imaging (5’ resolution; ~5-50”position) every 95min

32. Detector-collimator & Telescope
EXIST
Side View
Detector-collimator & Telescope

33. EUSO – Extreme Energy Cosmic Rays
Observed via optical emissions from
above:

35. Neutrino Astronomy Large Amount of Material Needed
to Interact with and Detect Neutrinos

37. Gravitational Wave Astronomy
Space Ground
LISA LIGO

38. LIGO

39. LISA Mission
LISA : Scientific Objectives
LISA : Scientific Objectives
LISA - Baseline, 3 S/C

40. X-ray Astronomy in Japan
Hakucho Tenma
Ginga ASCA

41. ASTRO-E2

42. The End

44. Back-up slides

45. Centaurus A

46. High Energy Astrophysics
- The study of objects and regions of space where the energy density is much greater than that of normal stars and galaxies
Some Objects of HEA:
Compact Objects* & Binary Systems
Cosmic Rays
Solar Flares
AGNs
GRBs, …
* - BHs, Neutron stars, Strange stars

47. Gamma-Ray Astronomy - Evolution
Balloon Flights – Continuous Development of Instrumentation, Techniques & Initial Observations
Early, Small Spacecraft:
Explorer-11, SAS-3, COS-B
Later, Major Spacecraft: HEAO-1, HEAO-3, GRANAT/SIGMA
Compton GRO
Hard X-rays
& GRBs Nuclear H.E. Gammas (>20 MeV)
BATSE OSSE COMPTEL EGRET

48. The IBIS Instrument on the INTEGRAL Spacecraft

51. Future Japanese X-ray Mission – ASTRO-E2
Astro-E lost at launch, Feb. 2000
Astro-E2 Planned for Feb. 2005
~170 Layers of Nested X-ray Mirrors
4.5-meter Focal Length
Three Major Instruments:
X-ray Spectrometer
X-ray Imaging Spectrometer
Hard X-ray Imaging Detectors