The CASTER Black Hole Finder Probe

McConnell, Mark L.; Bloser, Peter F.; Case, G.; Cherry, M. L.; Cravens, J.; Guzik, T. G.; Hurley, K.; Kippen, R. M.; Macri, J.; Miller, R. S.; Pačiesas, W. S.; Ryan, J. M.; Schaefer, Bradley E.; Stacy, J. G.; Vestrand, W. T.; Wefel, J. P.

doi:10.1016/j.newar.2006.06.042

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The Space Science Center at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) has for several years been investigating the use of advanced scintillators and SiPMs in instrumentation for high-energy astronomy and solar physics. This work has included the study of LaBr 3 for coded-aperture telescopes [27]; the laboratory investigation of SiPM readouts for scintillator spectrometers [28 -31]; a successful balloon flight test of a Fast Compton Telescope (FACTEL) prototype with a LaBr 3 D2 layer and ~1 ns ToF resolution [32]; the successful balloon flight test of a simple LaBr 3 /SiPM spectrometer [33]; and a simulation study of the potential sensitivity of an advanced scintillator Compton telescope with SiPM readouts on an Explorer-class space mission [34]. In this paper we describe our most sophisticated experimental effort to date: the balloon flight test of a simple scintillator Compton telescope prototype with SiPM readout.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balloon flight test of a Compton telescope based on scintillators with silicon photomultiplier readouts

Bloser

Legere

Bancroft

et al. 2016

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A:

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We present the results of the first high-altitude balloon flight test of a concept for an advanced Compton telescope making use of modern scintillator materials with silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) readouts. There is a need in the fields of high-energy astronomy and solar physics for new medium-energy gamma-ray (~0.4 -10 MeV) detectors capable of making sensitive observations of both line and continuum sources over a wide dynamic range. A fast scintillatorbased Compton telescope with SiPM readouts is a promising solution to this instrumentation challenge, since the fast response of the scintillators permits both the rejection of background via time-of-flight (ToF) discrimination and the ability to operate at high count rates. The Solar Compton Telescope (SolCompT) prototype presented here was designed to demonstrate stable performance of this technology under balloon-flight conditions. The SolCompT instrument was a simple two-element Compton telescope, consisting of an approximately one-inch cylindrical stilbene crystal for a scattering detector and a one-inch cubic LaBr 3 :Ce crystal for a calorimeter detector. Both scintillator detectors were read out by 2 × 2 arrays of Hamamatsu S11828-3344 MPPC devices. Custom front-end electronics provided optimum signal rise time and linearity, and custom power supplies automatically adjusted the SiPM bias voltage to compensate for temperature-induced gain variations. A tagged calibration source, consisting of ~240 nCi of 60 Co embedded in plastic scintillator, was placed in the field of view and provided a known source of gamma rays to measure in flight. The SolCompT balloon payload was launched on 24 August 2014 from Fort Sumner, NM, and spent ~3.75 hours at a float altitude of ~123,000 feet. The instrument performed well throughout the flight. After correcting for small (~10%) residual gain variations, we measured an in-flight ToF resolution of ~760 ps (FWHM). Advanced scintillators with SiPM readouts continue to show great promise for future gamma-ray instruments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balloon flight test of a Compton telescope based on scintillators with silicon photomultiplier readouts

Bloser

Legere

Bancroft

et al. 2016

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A:

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“…GRB060927 (z = 5.5) is another example of a GRB near the end of the re-ionization epoch [25]. Finding high-z GRBs is the goal of dedicated projects, e.g., GROND [26], and future space missions, like EXIST [15], CASTER [27], or Xenia [28],…”

Section: Tracing Cosmic Chemical Evolution With Grbsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracing Cosmic Chemical Evolution with GRBs

Hartmann¹,

Meegan²,

Kouveliotou³

et al. 2009

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Abundance measurements with bright background light sources, such as quasars and GRBs, probe the large-scale distribution and physical state of evolving, coupled gas-star-dark matter structures in the Universe. Not all baryons inferred from BBN and the CMB are accounted for in the local Universe; a significant fraction resides in warm-hot tenuous gas filaments tracing the large-scale distribution of dark matter. Understanding the chemo-dynamics of these structures can be advanced with sensitive X-ray studies of emission from diffuse baryons in the warm-hot medium residing in clusters and the filamentary cosmic web, and in absorption with bright, distant sources, in particular GRBs. Supernovae and galaxies are bright enough to be traced to high redshifts, but the diffuse gas in their vicinity is not luminous enough to be detectable in emission at such distances. This diffuse component can be probed with absorption spectroscopy of bright background sources. GRBs, associated with massive stars, provide beacons that may trace star formation to the first generations. Their large brightness allows abundances to be measured in early, small proto-galaxies, and to trace them to the era of re-ionization, at z > 6.

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Probing cosmic chemical evolution with GRBs

Hartmann

2008

New Astronomy Reviews

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The CASTER Black Hole Finder Probe

Cited by 6 publications

References 8 publications

Balloon flight test of a Compton telescope based on scintillators with silicon photomultiplier readouts

Balloon flight test of a Compton telescope based on scintillators with silicon photomultiplier readouts

Tracing Cosmic Chemical Evolution with GRBs

Probing cosmic chemical evolution with GRBs

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