Engineering topics

Gehrels, Neil

Publications and source records attributed to Gehrels, Neil.

152 records · Page 9

NASA NTRS1990

Directions in gamma-ray spectroscopy

Current and future instrumentation for gamma-ray spectroscopy in the spectral range from 10 keV to 10 MeV is described. New technologies for Germanium (Ge) spectrometers and emerging detector technologies are highlighted. Scientific objectives are considered, with emphasis on capabilities beyond those of the Nuclear Astrophysics Explorer (NAE). A list of instrument requirements is given. Technologies under development for an NAE-era spectrometer are presented. Spectrometers beyond NAE and other types of future technologies are discussed, and a partial list of current and future spectrometers is provided.

Gehrels, Neil↗

NASA NTRS1990

The Nuclear Astrophysics Explorer

The Nuclear Astrophysics Explorer (NAE) is a concept for a possible future NASA Explorer mission which would obtain high resolution, E/Delta E about 500, observations of gamma-ray lines in order to study many fundamental problems in astrophysics. It operates from 15 keV to 10 MeV with a 3-sigma sensitivity of about 3 x 10 to the -6th ph/sq cm-s in a 10 to the 6th s observation. This is 100 times below the presently known gamma-ray line fluxes. The NAE uses a heavily shielded array of nine cooled Ge detectors in a very low background configuration. Its 10-deg field of view contains a versatile coded mask system which provides 2D imaging with 4-deg resolution, 1D imaging with 2-deg resolution and efficient measurements of emission from diffuse and point sources. The late 1990s is the earliest the NAE mission could begin. The scientific motivation, instrument concept, mission concept and expected results, and status and plans for the NAE are presented.

Matteson, James L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The Galactic center

A brief review of Galactic center observations, from the radio to gamma rays, is presented. There is evidence for black holes in the central region of the Galaxy at all wavelengths, but the observations are not unambiguous and a single massive object at the dynamic center may not explain the data at all wavelengths. Requirements for future observations in each wavelength band are developed.

Gehrels, Neil↗

NASA NTRS1990

Low background gamma-ray spectrometer

The next-generation gamma-ray spectrometer after the planned Nuclear Astrophysics Explorer (NAE) could be based on the moon to use the lunar regolith for shielding the detectors from cosmic rays and neutrons. This increased shielding over what could reasonably be put in low-earth orbit would provide a narrow line sensitivity (3 sigma) of about 2 x 10 exp -7 photons/sq cm s at 1 MeV in 10 exp 6 s, which is about 10 times better than the NAE and 100 times better than GRO/OSSE.

Gehrels, Neil↗

NASA NTRS1990

Isotopically enriched germanium detectors for astrophysical gamma-ray spectroscopy

A study is presented of the instrumental background in astrophysical gamma-ray spectrometers using isotopically enriched germanium detectors. Calculations show that the beta-decay background, which is the largest component between approximately 0.1 and 1.0 MeV in balloonborne and satellite spectrometers, is dominated by the activation of Ge-74. This component can be reduced by an order of magnitude using detectors enriched to more than 80 percent in (Ge-70). The predicted reduction in the total background for current balloonborne instruments is more than a factor of 1.7 between 0.2 and 1.0 MeV. For future satellite instruments, the reduction in this energy range is by more than a factor of 5.

Gehrels, Neil↗

NASA NTRS1990

Design criteria for small coded aperture masks in gamma-ray astronomy

Most theoretical work on coded aperture masks in X-ray and low-energy gamma-ray astronomy has concentrated on masks with large numbers of elements. For gamma-ray spectrometers in the MeV range, the detector plane usually has only a few discrete elements, so that masks with small numbers of elements are called for. For this case it is feasible to analyze by computer all the possible mask patterns of given dimension to find the ones that best satisfy the desired performance criteria. A particular set of performance criteria for comparing the flux sensitivities, source positioning accuracies and transparencies of different mask patterns is developed. The results of such a computer analysis for masks up to dimension 5 x 5 unit cell are presented and it is concluded that there is a great deal of flexibility in the choice of mask pattern for each dimension.

Sembay, S.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Prospects for gamma-ray line observations of individual supernovae

The gamma-ray line emission from individual type I and type II supernovae are studied using numerical simulations and photon propagation codes to predict the flux levels and line shapes. For both types, the gamma ray lines with the highest flux from an individual event are the 0.847 and 1.238 MeV lines from the Ni-56 to Co-56 to Fe-56 decay chain. For type I supernovae, the 0.847 MeV line peaks at about 70 days after event onset. The historical record indicates an approximate discovery rate of once in 10 years for balloon-borne instruments, once in two to three years for the Gamma-Ray Observatory, and once in one to two years for a proposed space mission. The 0.847 MeV line flux from type II supernovae peaks at about 600 days after event onset at a low level which restricts observations to the events in the Galaxy and its nearest neighbors. The expected line shape is narrower than for type I supernovae.

Gehrels, Neil↗

NASA NTRS1987

Prospects for observations of nucleosynthetic gamma-ray lines and continuum from SN 1987A

Expected flux levels for nucleosynthetic gamma-ray line and continuum emissions from SN 1987A are calculated for several models. The dominant line emission is from freshly synthesized Ni-56 and its decay daughters, and the continuum is from Compton scattering of line photons. For a 15 solar mass Type II model, the light curve for the 0.847 MeV gamma-ray line peaks in September 1988 at 3 x 10 to the -4th photons/sq cm/s. This is detectable only by new, ultrasensitive balloon-borne spectrometers. For models with substantial mass loss from their envelopes, the peak is in early 1988 at about 0.01 photons/sq cm/s, which is detectable at high significance levels by all current instruments. The continuum emission in the 0.05-0.5 MeV band peaks about 100 days before the 0.847 MeV line peak. This Compton precursor is observable at about the same significance level as the lines.

Gehrels, Neil↗