Calibrating the HXMT collimators using diffuse illumination

We propose a new method to calibrate the HXMT collimators by measuring the optical point spread function (PSF) of the hard X-ray modulation telescope (HXMT). The light transmission of the collimator at different viewing angles with a camera and a diffuse backlight placed behind the collimator is measured. This method is much easier to accomplish than measuring the PSF with a parallel optical beam. The experimental results are very consistent with the simulations. The PSF of the collimator of the high energy X-ray telescope on HXMT is found to be in good agreement with the design, with accuracy better than 1 arcmin.     

硬X射线调制望远镜低能探测器量子效率标定

低能X射线望远镜是硬X射线调制望远镜卫星的主要载荷之一,探测器采用CCD236.探测器的量子效率会影响能谱拟合和绝对流量,有必要对其进行标定.利用~(55)Fe放射源,以硅漂移探测器为标准探测器,标定了CCD236在Mn-K_α(5.899 keV)和Mn-K_β(6.497 keV)能量点处的量子效率,此能段在Fe线附近,对X射线天文观测有重要价值.考虑探测器的分裂事例后,Mn-K_α和Mn-K_β处的量子效率分别为71%和62%.在-95—-30?C工作温度范围内,CCD量子效率与温度无关.利用CCD236的结构及实测的量子效率,不考虑沟阻影响,得到耗尽层厚度为38μm.对CCD236施加不同的电压,其量子效率基本不变,表明其在两相驱动下高低电平的耗尽层厚度相等,进而说明CCD236一直工作在深耗尽状态,其耗尽层到了外延层和衬底层边界,已达最大值.     

A study of the pointed observation methods and sensitivity of HXMT

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) is an X-ray astronomy satellite consisting of three slat-collimated instruments, the High Energy X-ray Instrument (HE), the Medium Energy X-ray Instrument (ME), and the Low Energy X-ray Instrument (LE). HXMT will carry out an all sky survey and make pointed observations in the 1-250 keV energy band. In order to get the source and background fluxes simultaneously in the pointed observations, two methods, i.e., the combined field of view (FOV) method and the off-axis pointing method are proposed in this paper. Comprehensive analyses of the sensitivities of the three instruments by using these two methods are presented, respectively. It is found that the off-axis pointing method has a higher sensitivity for HE and ME but a lower sensitivity for LE. Since the axes of the three instruments are aligned along the same direction, the off-axis pointing method is recommended as the main method in the pointed observation for HXMT; the combined FOV method can be used when LE is the most relevant instrument in order to satisfy the scientific objective of the observation.     

HXMT卫星地面样机成像实验

硬X射线调制望远镜(HXMT)致力于实现硬X射线能段的高灵敏度巡天.HXMT地面样机已在中国科学院高能物理研究所粒子天体物理重点实验室建成.它包括18个栅条准直的NaI(Tl)/CsI(Na)复合晶体探测器,总有效探测面积为5000cm². 探测器工作在20—250keV,视场范围5.7°×5.7°通过近距离放射源成像实验和直接解调成像方法的使用,地面样机能够达到2'点源定位精度和5'角分辨率(FWHM).     

Simulation of the in-flight calibration of the collimator alignment and PSF for HXMT

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) is an X-ray astronomical satellite in 1–250 keV, consisting of three collimated instruments. We present the in-flight calibration approach of the collimator alignment and Point Spread Function (PSF) for HXMT, using both the direct fitting method and the imaging method. According to observational simulations of the Crab Nebula, we find that these two methods produce almost the same calibration accuracy of the alignment, and with a one-day scanning observation, the alignment can be calibrated to better than 0.45′ and 0.1′ along the wide and narrow directions of the Field of View (FOV) for a detector module, which corresponds to a localization accuracy of better than 0.1′ and meets the scientific requirement.     

Lucy-Richardson迭代解谱在X射线荧光分析的应用

硬X射线调制望远镜是我国第一颗X射线天文卫星,其载荷低能X射线望远镜采用了SCD型探测器CCD236,主要对能量在0.7～13.0 keV的软X射线光子进行观测。卫星发射前,需要对探测器进行详细的性能标定,其中包括能量响应矩阵的标定。能量响应矩阵是能谱分析的关键。CCD236探测器输出能谱并不是观测光源的真实发射谱,而是发射谱与探测器能量响应矩阵的卷积结果。一般可以通过直接反卷积的方法还原光源的真实能谱。解谱过程可以看作是一维成像问题,利用能量响应矩阵与输出能谱进行反卷积解谱。常用的反卷积算法为Lucy-Richardson迭代算法,其利用条件几率的贝氏定理反复进行运算,进而对输出能谱进行反解,得到观测光源的真实发射能谱。通过能量响应矩阵对CCD236探测器的55Fe测量能谱进行解谱。经过解谱,能谱的能量分辨从144.3 eV提升到了65.6 eV@5.9 keV,连续谱成分被明显地抑制,提高了能谱的峰背比。反解能谱由两个半峰全宽很小的（<70.0 eV）高斯峰组成,两成分的强度比为8.4,能够很好地表征真实发射谱的结构。利用这种方法可对材料X射线荧光谱进行解谱,还原材料的荧光谱,提高能谱的能量分辨。反解结果中主要元素各类荧光线通过解谱彼此独立,能谱峰背比很高,可以很好地用于X射线荧光分析中,提高荧光谱的质量。     

一种复合型空间软X射线--极紫外波段望远镜设计

根据空间对日观测的需要,提出了一种复合型宽波段范围的软X射线———极紫外望远镜的设计方案。该望远镜是把小结构尺寸的卡塞格林型极紫外波段正入射望远镜放置在软X射线波段,并由常用的Wolter Ⅰ型掠入射望远镜的中心部分组成。在软X射线和极紫外波段具有相同的焦距和视场角,共同使用同一个探测器,外形尺寸与相同指标的掠入射型望远镜一致,且在极紫外波段具有较高的角分辨率和光谱分辨率,适合于在空间进行对日观测使用。     

Low-energy gamma-ray sources observed by the MISO telescope

Summary The MISO telescope is a gamma-ray detector operating in the (0.1÷20) MeV energy range. This instrument was flown success-fully from Palestine, Texas (U.S.A.) in May 1977, October 1978, September 1979 and May 1980. During the four flights, the telescope observed a number of galactic and extragalactic sources. The Crab Nebula was detected in 1980 and its spectrum was measured up to 2 MeV. Cygnus X-1 was observed in 1979 and 1980 and was found to be in different hard X-ray states on each occasion: in a superlow state in 1979 and in a low state in 1980. The COS-B high-energy (E>50 MeV) gamma-ray sources CG 135+1 (1978) and CG 195+4 (1978) were also observed by the same instrument. From the region containing CG 135+1 a 5σ excess was measured in the counting rate of the telescope above 120 keV. No statistically significant low-energy gamma-ray flux was detected from CG 195+4. The Seyfert galaxies NCG 4151 (1977, 1979, 1980), and MCG 8-11-11 (1979), the BL LAC object MK 501 (1979) and the ?peculiar? galaxy NGC 1275 (1979) were also searched for gamma-ray emission. The data on NGC 4151 and MCG 8-11-11 are consistent with power law spectra having photon indices α∼1 in the (0.1÷3) MeV energy range. Above this energy, the MISO and SAS-2/COS-B measurements require spectral breaks to α≥3. Upper limits were obtained on the emission from both MK 501 and NGC 1275. Paper presented at the 2° Convegno Nazionale di Fisica Cosmica, held at L'Aquila, 29 May–2 June 1984.     

Space solar telescope in soft X-ray and EUV band

In this paper we have reviewed our achievements in soft X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) optics. Up to now, the research system of soft X-ray and EUV optics has been established, including light sources, detectors, calibrations, optical testing and machining of super smooth mirrors, and fabrications of multilayer film mirrors. Based on our achievements, we have developed two types of solar space telescopes for the soft X-ray and EUV space solar observations. One is an EUV multilayer normal incident telescope array including 4 different operation wavelength telescopes. The operation wavelengths of the EUV telescope are 13.0, 17.1, 19.5 and 30.4 nm. The other is a complex space solar telescope, which is composed of an EUV multilayer normal incident telescope and a soft X-ray grazing incident telescope. The EUV multilayer normal incident telescope stands in the central part of the soft X-ray grazing incident telescope. The normal incident telescope and the grazing incident telescope have a common detector. The different operation wavelengths can be changed by rotating a filter wheel.     

Application of a multiscale maximum entropy image restoration algorithm to HXMT observations

This paper introduces a multiscale maximum entropy(MSME) algorithm for image restoration of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope(HXMT),which is a collimated scan X-ray satellite mainly devoted to a sensitive all-sky survey and pointed observations in the 1-250 keV range.The novelty of the MSME method is to use wavelet decomposition and multiresolution support to control noise amplification at different scales.Our work is focused on the application and modification of this method to restore diffuse sources detected by HXMT scanning observations.An improved method,the ensemble multiscale maximum entropy(EMSME) algorithm,is proposed to alleviate the problem of mode mixing exiting in MSME.Simulations have been performed on the detection of the diffuse source Cen A by HXMT in all-sky survey mode.The results show that the MSME method is adapted to the deconvolution task of HXMT for diffuse source detection and the improved method could suppress noise and improve the correlation and signal-to-noise ratio,thus proving itself a better algorithm for image restoration.Through one all-sky survey,HXMT could reach a capacity of detecting a diffuse source with maximum differential flux of 0.5 mCrab.     

Status and first results of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

The ANTARES detector is the most sensitive neutrino telescope observing the southern sky and the world’s first particle detector operating in the deep sea. It is installed in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of 2475 m. As example for the first results, the determination of the atmospheric muon flux is discussed; a fair agreement with previous measurements is found. Furthermore, the results of a search for high-energy events in excess of the atmospheric neutrino flux are reported and significant limits are set on the diffuse cosmic neutrino flux in the multi-TeV to PeV energy range. Using data taken during the construction phase, a first analysis searching for point-like excesses in the neutrino sky distribution has been performed. The resulting sensitivity of ANTARES is reported and compared to measurements of other detectors.     

Highlights of the ARGO-YBJ Experiment at 4,300 m a.s.l.

The ARGO-YBJ experiment in Tibet, China has been operated to survey the northern sky for gamma ray sources, transient or steady, for nearly 6 years. Many astrophysics observational results will be highlighted in this paper, such as the sky survey results, extended source observation, diffuse gamma rays from the galactic plane, and emission mechanism of AGNs and their flares. As the unique detector for EAS with a continuously sensitive area of 5,600 m ², the ARGO-YBJ array catches almost all particles in the central part of showers. The high-quality data set for showers above few TeV has been used for cosmic ray measurements such as the energy spectrum and composition. All those results are summarized here. As one of the next generation ground-based high-altitude air shower detector, LHAASO is briefly introduced as the successor of ARGO-YBJ in the end of the paper.     

Prospective study on observations of γ-ray sources in the Galaxy using the HADAR experiment

The High Altitude Detection of Astronomical Radiation (HADAR) experiment is a refracting terrestrial telescope array based on the atmospheric Cherenkov imaging technique. It focuses the Cherenkov light emitted by extensive air showers through a large aperture water-lens system for observing very-high-energy γ-rays and cosmic rays. With the advantages of a large field-of-view (FOV) and low energy threshold, the HADAR experiment operates in a large-scale sky scanning mode to observe galactic sources. This study presents the prospects of using the HADAR experiment for the sky survey of TeV γ-ray sources from TeVCat and provids a one-year survey of statistical significance. Results from the simulation show that a total of 23 galactic point sources, including five supernova remnant sources and superbubbles, four pulsar wind nebula sources, and 14 unidentified sources, were detected in the HADAR FOV with a significance greater than 5 standard deviations (σ). The statistical significance for the Crab Nebula during one year of operation reached 346.0 σ and the one-year integral sensitivity of HADAR above 1 TeV was ~1.3%–2.4% of the flux from the Crab Nebula.     

The High Energy X-ray telescope (HE) onboard the Insight-HXMT astronomy satellite

The Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope(Insight-HXMT) is a broadband X-ray and γ-ray(1-3000 ke V) astronomy satellite. One of its three main telescopes is the High Energy X-ray telescope(HE). The main detector plane of HE comprises 18 Na I(Tl)/Cs I(Na) phoswich detectors, where Na I(Tl) is used as the primary detector to measure ~ 20-250 ke V photons incident from the field of view(FOV) defined by collimators, and Cs I(Na) is used as the active shielding detector to Na I(Tl) by pulse shape discrimination. Additionally, Cs I(Na) is used as an omnidirectional γ-ray monitor. The HE collimators have a diverse FOV,i.e. 1.1°×5.7°(15 units), 5.7°×5.7°(2 units), and blocked(1 unit). Therefore, the combined FOV of HE is approximately5.7°×5.7°. Each HE detector has a diameter of 190 mm resulting in a total geometrical area of approximately 5100 cm2, and the energy resolution is ~15% at 60 ke V. For each recorded X-ray event by HE, the timing accuracy is less than 10 μs and the deadtime is less than 10 μs. HE is used for observing spectra and temporal variability of X-ray sources in the 20-250 ke V band either by pointing observations for known sources or scanning observations to unveil new sources. Additionally, HE is used for monitoring the γ-ray burst in 0.2-3 Me V band. This paper not only presents the design and performance of HE instruments but also reports results of the on-ground calibration experiments.     

A future project at tibet: the large high altitude air shower observatory (LHAASO)

Gamma ray source detection above 30 TeV is an encouraging approach for finding galactic cosmic ray sources. All sky survey for gamma ray sources using wide field of view detector is essential for population accumulation for various types of sources above 100 GeV. In order to target those goals, a large air shower particle detector array of 1 km~2 (the LHAASO project) at 4300 m a.s.l, is proposed. By adding two MagicII-type telescopes in the array as proposed, LHAASO will be enhanced in source morphologic investigation power. The proposed array will be utilized also for energy spectrum measurement for individual cosmic ray species above 30 TeV. By re-configuring the wide field of view telescopes into fluorescence light detector array, the aperture of the detector array can be enlarged to cover an energy region above 100 PeV where the second knee is located. Cosmic ray spectrum and composition will be measured in order to transfer an energy scale to ultra high energy cosmic ray experiments.     

Insight-HXMT observations of the first binary neutron star merger GW170817

Finding the electromagnetic(EM) counterpart of binary compact star merger, especially the binary neutron star(BNS) merger,is critically important for gravitational wave(GW) astronomy, cosmology and fundamental physics. On Aug. 17, 2017,Advanced LIGO and Fermi/GBM independently triggered the first BNS merger, GW170817, and its high energy EM counterpart,GRB 170817 A, respectively, resulting in a global observation campaign covering gamma-ray, X-ray, UV, optical, IR, radio as well as neutrinos. The High Energy X-ray telescope(HE) onboard Insight-HXMT(Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope) is the unique high-energy gamma-ray telescope that monitored the entire GW localization area and especially the optical counterpart(SSS17 a/AT2017 gfo) with very large collection area(~1000 cm~2) and microsecond time resolution in 0.2-5 MeV. In addition,Insight-HXMT quickly implemented a Target of Opportunity(ToO) observation to scan the GW localization area for potential X-ray emission from the GW source. Although Insight-HXMT did not detect any significant high energy(0.2-5 MeV) radiation from GW170817, its observation helped to confirm the unexpected weak and soft nature of GRB 170817 A. Meanwhile,Insight-HXMT/HE provides one of the most stringent constraints(~10~(-7) to 10~(-6) erg/cm~2/s) for both GRB170817 A and any other possible precursor or extended emissions in 0.2-5 MeV, which help us to better understand the properties of EM radiation from this BNS merger. Therefore the observation of Insight-HXMT constitutes an important chapter in the full context of multi-wavelength and multi-messenger observation of this historical GW event.     

Science at the Hard X-ray Diffraction Limit (XDL2011), Part 1

There is growing excitement in the synchrotron materials science community about the potential of nearly diffraction-limited, high-repetition rate, hard X-ray sources, such as an Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) or an Ultimate Storage Ring (USR), and that these sources will pave the way to scientific insights and discoveries not possible with existing facilities. These future sources will deliver highly coherent, nearly diffraction-limited X-ray beams that will power ultra-intense, nanometer-scale X-ray probes and imaging capabilities approaching atomic resolution. They will produce X-ray pulses at MHz to GHz repetition rates and span pulse durations from below 50 femtoseconds to tens of picoseconds, enabling new classes of experiments in hard X-ray science.     

Capabilities of the Gamma-400 Gamma-ray Telescope for Observation of Electrons and Positrons in the TeV Energy Range

The space-based GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope will measure the fluxes of gamma rays in the energy range from ∼20 MeV to several TeV and cosmic-ray electrons and positrons in the energy range from several GeV to several TeV to investigate the origin of gamma-ray sources, sources and propagation of the Galactic cosmic rays and signatures of dark matter. The instrument consists of an anticoincidence system, a converter-tracker (thickness one radiation length, 1 X₀), a time-of-flight system, an imaging calorimeter (2 X₀) with tracker, a top shower scintillator detector, an electromagnetic calorimeter from CsI(Tl) crystals (16 X₀) with four lateral scintillation detectors and a bottom shower scintillator detector. In this paper, the capability of the GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope for electron and positron measurements is analyzed. The bulk of cosmic rays are protons, whereas the contribution of the leptonic component to the total flux is ∼10⁻³ at high energy. The special methods for Monte Carlo simulations are proposed to distinguish electrons and positrons from proton background in the GAMMA-400 gamma-ray telescope. The contribution to the proton rejection from each detector system of the instrument is studied separately. The use of the combined information from all detectors allows us to reach a proton rejection of up to ∼1 × 10⁴.

     

Measurements of charge transfer efficiency in a proton-irradiated swept charge device

Charged Coupled Devices (CCDs) have been successfully used in several low energy X-ray astronomical satellites over the past two decades. Their high energy resolution and high spatial resolution make them a perfect tool for low energy astronomy, such as observing the formation of galaxy clusters and the environment around black holes. The Low Energy X-ray Telescope (LE) group is developing a Swept Charge Device (SCD) for the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) satellite. A SCD is a special low energy X-ray CCD, which can be read out a thousand times faster than traditional CCDs, simultaneously keeping excellent energy resolution. A test method for measuring the charge transfer efficiency (CTE) of a prototype SCD has been set up. Studies of the charge transfer inefficiency (CTI) with a proton-irradiated SCD have been performed at a range of operating temperatures. The SCD is irradiated by 3×10⁸cm^-2 10 MeV protons.     

Overview to the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) Satellite

As China's first X-ray astronomical satellite, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), which was dubbed as Insight-HXMT after the launch on June 15, 2017, is a wide-band(1-250 ke V) slat-collimator-based X-ray astronomy satellite with the capability of all-sky monitoring in 0.2-3 Me V. It was designed to perform pointing, scanning and gamma-ray burst(GRB)observations and, based on the Direct Demodulation Method (DDM), the image of the scanned sky region can be reconstructed.Here we give an overview of the mission and its progresses, including payload, core sciences, ground calibration/facility, ground segment, data archive, software, in-orbit performance, calibration, background model, observations and some preliminary results.