The Stellar X-ray Polarimeter - A focal plane polarimeter for the Spectrum X-Gamma mission

This paper describes an X-ray polarimeter that will be flown on the Spectrum X-Gamma mission. The instrument exploits three distinct physical processes to measure polarization: Bragg reflection from a graphite crystal, Thomson scattering from a metallic lithium target, and photoemission from a cesiu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optical Engineering 1990-07, Vol.29 (7), p.773-780
Main Authors: Kaaret, P., Novick, R., Martin, C., Shaw, P., Hamilton, T., Suniaev, R., Lapshov, I., Silver, E., Weisskopf, M., Elsner, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
Fundamental astronomy and astrophysics. Instrumentation, techniques, and astronomical observations
Instrumentation And Photography
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Summary:This paper describes an X-ray polarimeter that will be flown on the Spectrum X-Gamma mission. The instrument exploits three distinct physical processes to measure polarization: Bragg reflection from a graphite crystal, Thomson scattering from a metallic lithium target, and photoemission from a cesium iodide photocathode. These three methods allow polarization measurements over an energy band from 0.3 to 12 keV. The polarimeter will make possible sensitive measurements of several hundred known X-ray sources. X-ray polarization measurements will make it possible to constrain the geometry of gas flow in X-ray binaries, identify nonthermal emission in supernova remnants, test current models for X-ray emission in radio pulsars, determine the radiation mechanisms in active galactic nuclei, and search for inertial frame dragging (Lense-Thirring effect) around the putative black hole in Cygnus X-1.
ISSN:0091-3286
1560-2303
DOI:10.1117/12.55660