Engineering topics

vonBallmoos, P.

Publications and source records attributed to vonBallmoos, P..

4 records

NASA NTRS2005

INTEGRAL/SPI Limits on Electron-Positron Annihilation Radiation from the Galactic Plane

The center of our Galaxy is a known strong source of electron-positron 511- keV annihilation radiation. Thus far, however, there have been no reliable detections of annihilation radiation outside of the central radian of our Galaxy. One of the primary objectives of the INTEGRAL (INTErnational Gamma-RAy Astrophysics Laboratory) mission, launched in Oct. 2002, is the detailed study of this radiation. The Spectrometer on INTEGRAL (SPI) is a high resolution coded-aperture gamma-ray telescope with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity, angular resolution and energy resolution. We report results from the first 10 months of observation. During this period a significant fraction of the observing time was spent in or near the Galactic Plane. No positive annihilation flux was detected outside of the central region (|l| greater than 40 degrees) of our Galaxy. In this paper we describe the observations and data analysis methods and give limits on the 511-keV flux.

Teegarden, B. J.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Fingerprints of nucleosynthesis in the local spiral arm

The local spiral arm with its inherent massive star population is a natural site of recent nucleosynthesis activity. The features found in 1.8 MeV observation of candidate Al-26 sources situated in this structure are discussed. The emphasis is on Loop 1, a nearby superbubble which is possibly the site of a recent supernova explosion.

Knoedlseder, J.↗

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 NTRS1997

Performance of an INTEGRAL spectrometer model

Model calculations for the INTEGRAL spectrometer (SPI) onboard the future INTErnational Gamma Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGAL) are presented, where the sensitivity for narrow lines is based on estimates of the background level and the detection efficiency. The instrumental background rates are explained as the sum of various components that depend on the cosmic ray intensity and the spectrometer characteristics, such as the mass distribution around the Ge detectors, the passive material, the characteristics of the detector system and the background reduction techniques. Extended background calculations were performed with Monte Carlo simulations and using semi-empirical and calculated neutron and proton cross sections. In order to improve the INTEGRAL spectrometer sensitivity, several designs and background reduction techniques were compared for an instrument with a fixed detector volume.

Jean, P.↗