Measuring the Cosmic X-ray Background accurately
| Autor: | Nicolas Produit, Han-Cheng Li, Roland Walter |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
education.field_of_study COSMIC cancer database Active galactic nucleus Photon Spectrometer Population X-ray background FOS: Physical sciences Astrophysics Collimated light Silicon photomultiplier education Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM) |
| Popis: | Measuring the Cosmic X-ray Background (CXB) is a key to understand the Active Galactic Nuclei population, their absorption distribution and their average spectra. However, hard X-ray instruments suffer from time-dependent backgrounds and cross-calibration issues. The uncertainty of the CXB normalization remain of the order of 20%. To obtain a more accurate measurement, the Monitor Vsego Neba (MVN) instrument was built in Russia but not yet launched to the ISS (arXiv:1410.3284). We follow the same ideas to develop a CXB detector made of four collimated spectrometers with a rotating obturator on top. The collimators block off-axis photons below 100 keV and the obturator modulates on-axis photons allowing to separate the CXB from the instrumental background. Our spectrometers are made of 20 mm thick CeBr$_{3}$ crystals on top of a SiPM array. One tube features a $\sim$20 cm$^2$ effective area and more energy coverage than MVN, leading to a CXB count rate improved by a factor of $\sim$10 and a statistical uncertainty $\sim$0.5% on the CXB flux. A prototype is being built and we are seeking for a launch opportunity. 8 pages, 5 figures, 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2021) |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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