Concept study of a small Compton polarimeter to fly on a CubeSat

Application of cubesats in astronomical observations has been getting more and more mature in recent years. Here we report a concept study of a small Compton polarimeter to fly on a cubesat for observing polarization of soft gamma-rays from a black-hole X-ray binary, Cygnus X-1. Polarization states...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2019-11
Main Authors: Yi-Chi, Chang, Chien-Ying, Yang, Hung-Hsiang, Liang, Che-Yen, Chu, Jeng-Lun Chiu, Lin, Chih-Hsun, Laurent, Philippe, Hsiang-Kuang Chang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Black holes
Cerium
Computer simulation
Cubesat
Emission analysis
Gamma rays
Low earth orbits
Polarimeters
Polarization
Scintillation counters
Signal to noise ratio
Space missions
Telemetry
X ray binaries
X ray stars
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Summary:Application of cubesats in astronomical observations has been getting more and more mature in recent years. Here we report a concept study of a small Compton polarimeter to fly on a cubesat for observing polarization of soft gamma-rays from a black-hole X-ray binary, Cygnus X-1. Polarization states provide very useful diagnostics on the emission mechanism and the origin of those gamma rays. In our study, we conducted Monte Carlo simulations to decide the basic design of this small polarimeter. Silicon detectors and cerium bromide scintillators were employed in this study. We estimated its on-axis Compton efficiency at different energies and its data telemetry requirement when flying in a low earth orbit. Our results indicate that it is feasible to achieve high signal-to-noise ratio for observing Cyg X-1 with such a small instrument. Based on this study, we will proceed to have a more realistic design and look for opportunities of a cubesat space mission.
ISSN:2331-8422