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

High Energy Astrophysics

Dr. Gerald J. (Jerry) Fishman

NASA – Marshall Space Flight Center

Huntsville, AL USA July 4, 2002

- Detectors & Missions

High Energy AstrophysicsUsual 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 )

Electromagnetic Spectrum / Temperature Scale

Discovery of Cosmic Rays - 1912• In a balloon, at an altitude of 5,000

meters Victor Hess, the father of cosmic ray research, discovered "penetrating radiation" coming from space.

‹date/time› ‹footer› ‹#›

V.F. Hess (1883-1964) – Nobel Prize 1936

CollimatorCoded Aperture

Grazing Incidence Mirror

Nothing (Un-collimated)..

Aperture:

CCD Proportional Counter Scintillation Detector...

Detector:

X-ray & Gamma-Ray “Telescopes”

High-Energy

Gamma-Ray “Telescopes” :

- Compton Telescope

- Pair-tracking Telescope

- Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope

High-Energy Photon Interactions

- the Basis for all Detectors

• Photoelectric Effect

•Compton Scattering

•Pair Production

Photoelectric Interaction

Photon knocks out a bound electron, losing all of its energy to the electron

CCDs, Proportional Counters, Scintillation Detectors, . .

Compton ScatteringPhoton scatters off of an electron, losing part of its

energy to the electron and continues in another direction

Scintillation Detectors, Compton Telescope

Pair ProductionA very high energy electron interacts with matter and

produces an electron-positron pair (E=mc2)

Used in: Pair-tracking Telescope

UHURU (SAS-1) First X-ray Astronomy Satellite

1970-1974

HEAO Program: 1978 - 1982High Energy Astronomy Observatory

- Had Observational Support from AAVSO

The Great Observatories (4) :

Hubble Space Telescope 1990 - ~2010

Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory 1991 - 2000

Chandra X-Ray Observatory 1999 - ~2010

SIRTF (Space InfraRed Telescope Facility) 2003 - ~2006

High Energy Missions

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, … 1970s

EXOSAT, WATCH/GRANAT, … 1980s

BeppoSAX, Rossi-XTE 1990s

Focusing X-Ray Optics

Einstein (HEAO-2)

Currently in Orbit & Operational:

CHANDRA XMM-Newton

Future:

X-ray Astronomy (Focusing)

XEUSConstellation-X

Constellation – X (Con-X)

•Four identical satellites

•~100x present sensitivity

•Launched singly or in pairs

•Extended truss in orbit

Constellation – X (Con-X)

Two Spacecraft in Atlas V Shroud

Constellation-X Sensitivity

XEUS

The Xeus Mirror Spacecraft:

XEUSTwo-Component S/C - flying in formation with Space Station

Gamma-Ray Astronomy

– Future Developments

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

SWIFT•~1000 GRBs studied over a three year period •0.3-2.5 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 0.2-150 keV •Six colors covering 170-650nm •Capability to directly measure redshift •GRB Positions publicly distributed within seconds

SWIFT

The INTEGRAL Mission• Scheduled for Launch: Oct. 2002

• Two Major Instruments: IBIS & SPIE

• Energy Range: 15 keV to 20 MeV

The SPIE Instrument on the INTEGRAL Spacecraft

Coded Aperture >>Coded Aperture >>

Ge Detector Array >>

GLAST

GLASTLarge Area Telescope

(LAT)

Pair-Tracker Section >>

Scintillation Detector >>

GLASTGLAST 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

Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST)

•Obscured AGNs•GRBs out to z ~20-30 (~20X BATSE; ~5X Swift sensitivity)

• All-sky imaging (5’ resolution; ~5-50”position) every 95min

EXIST

Side ViewDetector-collimator & Telescope

EUSO – Extreme Energy Cosmic RaysObserved via optical emissions from above:

Neutrino Astronomy

-Large Amount of Material Needed

to Interact with and Detect Neutrinos

Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Space Ground

LISA LIGO

LIGO

LISA : Scientific Objectives

LISA - Baseline, 3 S/C

LISA : Scientific Objectives

LISA Mission

X-ray Astronomy in Japan

Hakucho 1979-1985 Tenma 1983-1989

Ginga 1987-1991 ASCA 1993-2001

ASTRO-E2

The End

Back-up slides

Centaurus A

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

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 GROHard X-rays & GRBs Nuclear H.E. Gammas (>20 MeV)

BATSE OSSE COMPTEL EGRET

The IBIS Instrument on the INTEGRAL Spacecraft

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