Engineering topics

Mandrou, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Mandrou, P..

5 records

NASA NTRS1997

The INTEGRAL scatterometer SPI

The INTErnational Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) mission's onboard spectrometer, the INTEGRAL spectrometer (SPI), is described. The SPI constitutes one of the four main mission instruments. It is optimized for detailed measurements of gamma ray lines and for the mapping of diffuse sources. It combines a coded aperture mask with an array of large volume, high purity germanium detectors. The detectors make precise measurements of the gamma ray energies over the 20 keV to 8 MeV range. The instrument's characteristics are described and the Monte Carlo simulation of its performance is outlined. It will be possible to study gamma ray emission from compact objects or line profiles with a high energy resolution and a high angular resolution.

Mandrou, P.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Sigma observations of the low mass X-ray binaries of the galactic bulge

The soft gamma-ray telescope (35-1300 keV) SIGMA aboard the high energy GRANAT space observatory has been monitoring the Galactic Bulge region for more than 2000 h of effective time since March 1990. In the resulting average 35-75 keV image we detected ten sources at a level of greater than 5 standard deviations, 6 of which can be identified with low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB). Among them, one is the 1993 X-ray nova in Ophiuchus (GRS 1726-249), one is an X-ray pulsar (GX 1+4), two are associated with X-ray bursters (GX 354-0 and A 1742-294) and two with bursting X-ray binaries in the globular clusters Terzan 2 and Terzan 1. Their spectral and long term variability behavior as measured by SIGMMA are presented and discussed.

Goldwurm, A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The Crab pulsar light curve in the soft gamma ray range: FIGARO II results

The FIGARO II experiment (a large area, balloon borne, crystal scintillator detector working from 0.15 to 4.3 MeV) observed the Crab pulsar on 1990 Jul. 9 for about seven hours. The study of the pulse profile confirms some structures detected with a low significance during the shorter observation of 1986, and adds new important elements to the picture. In particular, between the two main peaks, two secondary peaks appear centered at phase values 0.1 and 0.3, in the energy range 0.38 to 0.49 MeV; in the same energy range, a spectral feature at 0.44 MeV, interpreted as a redshifted positron annihilation line, was observed during the same balloon flight in the phase interval including the second main peak and the neighboring secondary peak. If the phase interval considered is extended to include also the other secondary peak, the significance of the spectral line appears to increase.

Massaro, E.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Low-energy gamma rays from Cygnus X-1

The Cyg X-1 was observed by the balloonborne telescope OPALE, in June 1976. The high energy spectrum of the source, which was in its superlow state, was seen to extend well beyond 1 MeV. The observed low energy gamma ray component of Cyg X-1 is compared with the predictions of recent models involving accretion onto a stellar black hole, and including a possible contribution from the pair annihilation 511 keV gamma ray line.

Roques, J. P.↗

NASA NTRS1985

The Figaro experiment for the observation of time marked sources in the low energy gamma-ray range

The only two firmly identified galactic gamma-ray sources in the second COS B catalogue are the pulsars PSR 0531+21 (Crab) and PSR 0833-45 (Vela). In the region between 100 keV and 10 MeV the detailed shape of the emission is particularly important, since one expects a turn-off which is related to geometry of the source. A marginal evidence of such a turn-off just below 1 MeV has been reported for the Vela pulsar. In order to study sources with a well marked time signature in this energy band, the FIGARO - French Italian Gamma Ray Observatory was designed. The first version was launched in November 1983 from the Sao Manuel base (Brazil), and was destroyed in a free fall following a balloon burst at an altitude of 50 mbar. A brief description is given of the new improved version of the experiment, FIGARO 2, which is nearly completed and whose launch is scheduled before summer 1986.

Agnetta, G.↗