Engineering topics

Pendleton, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Pendleton, G..

7 records

NASA NTRS2006

Radiation Dose from Lunar Neutron Albedo

The lunar neutron albedo from thermal energies to 8 MeV was measured on the Lunar Prospector Mission in 1998-1999. Using GEANT4 we have calculated the neutron albedo due to cosmic ray bombardment of the moon and found a good-agreement with the measured fast neutron spectra. We then calculated the total effective dose from neutron albedo of all energies, and made comparisons with the effective dose contributions from both galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events to be expected on the lunar surface.

Adams, J. H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Consistency of time dilation in temporal profiles and spectra of gamma-ray bursts

If gamma-ray bursters are at cosmological distances-a possibility suggested by their isotropic distribution and spatial inhomogeneity-then the temporal profiles and spectra of more distant sources will be time dilated compared to those of relatively nearby sources. Analyses of bright and dim Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) gamma-ray bursts yield a relative time-dilation factor of 2.3 on timescales of pulses and event durations. We redshift the spectra of time intervals near the intensity peaks of the bright sample on a trial grid and compare with spectra of the dim sample. A redshift factor of order two-with wide latitude permitted-brings the spectra of the two brightness groups into alignment. Thus there is coarse agreement with the time-dilation factor found in the temporal domain.

Noriss, J. P.↗

NASA NTRS1994

BATSE gamma-ray burst line search. 2: Bayesian consistency methodology

We describe a Bayesian methodology to evaluate the consistency between the reported Ginga and Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) detections of absorption features in gamma-ray burst spectra. Currently no features have been detected by BATSE, but this methodology will still be applicable if and when such features are discovered. The Bayesian methodology permits the comparison of hypotheses regarding the two detectors' observations and makes explicit the subjective aspects of our analysis (e.g., the quantification of our confidence in detector performance). We also present non-Bayesian consistency statistics. Based on preliminary calculations of line detectability, we find that both the Bayesian and non-Bayesian techniques show that the BATSE and Ginga observations are consistent given our understanding of these detectors.

Band, D. L.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Do gamma-ray burst sources repeat?

The demonstration of repeated gamma-ray bursts from an individual source would severely constrain burst source models. Recent reports of evidence for repetition in the first BATSE burst catalog have generated renewed interest in this issue. Here, we analyze the angular distribution of 585 bursts of the second BATSE catalog (Meegan et al. 1994). We search for evidence of burst recurrence using the nearest and farthest neighbor statistic ad the two-point angular correlation function. We find the data to be consistent with the hypothesis that burst sources do not repeat; however, a repeater fraction of up to about 20% of the bursts cannot be excluded.

Meegan, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

BATSE observations of gamma-ray burst spectra. I - Spectral diversity

We studied the time-averaged gamma-ray burst spectra accumulated by the spectroscopy detectors of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment. The spectra are described well at low energy by a power-law continuum with an exponential cutoff and by a steeper power law at high energy. However, the spectral parameters vary from burst to burst with no universal values. The break in the spectrum ranges from below 100 keV to more than 1 MeV, but peaks below 200 keV with only a small fraction of the spectra breaking above 400 keV; it is therefore unlikely that a majority of the burst spectra are shaped directly by pair processes, unless bursts originate from a broad redshift range. The correlations among burst parameters do not fulfill the predictions of the cosmological models of burst origin. No correlations with burst morphology or the spatial distribution were found. We demonstrate the importance of using a complete spectral description even if a partial description (e.g., a model without a high-energy tail) is statistically satisfactory.

Band, D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

BATSE spectroscopy detector calibration

We describe the channel-to-energy calibration of the Spectroscopy Detectors of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO). These detectors consist of NaI(TI) crystals viewed by photomultiplier tubes whose output in turn is measured by a pulse height analyzer. The calibration of these detectors has been complicated by frequent gain changes and by nonlinearities specific to the BATSE detectors. Nonlinearities in the light output from the NaI crystal and in the pulse height analyzer are shifted relative to each other by changes in the gain of the photomultiplier tube. We present the analytical model which is the basis of our calibration methodology, and outline how the empirical coefficients in this approach were determined. We also describe the complications peculiar to the Spectroscopy Detectors, and how our understanding of the detectors' operation led us to a solution to these problems.

Band, D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Spectral evolution of gamma-ray bursts

BATSE's Spectral Detectors provide a series of high resolution spectra over the duration of a gamma-ray burst; fits to these spectra show the evolution of the continuum as the burst progresses. The burst continuum can usually be fit by the spectral form AE sup alpha exp(-E/kT) from around 25 keV to more than 3 MeV, with varying trends in the value and evolution of the spectral parameters. As a result of limited statistics for E greater than 1 - 2 MeV in the individual spectra, a high energy power law is not required. Only long duration strong bursts can be studied by fitting a series of spectra, and therefore our conclusions concern only this class of burst. The bursts we analyzed tend to be characterized by a hard-to-soft trend both for individual intensity spikes and for the burst as a whole: the hardness leads the count rate in spectra which resolve the temporal variations, while the hardness of successive spikes decreases. We also summarize the performance of the Spectral Detectors and the development of analysis tools to date.

Band, D.↗