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Large Area X-Ray Proportional Counter Instrument on AstroSat


Affiliations
1 Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400 005, India
2 UM-DAE Centre of Excellence for Basic Sciences, University of Mumbai, Kalina, Mumbai 400 098, India
3 University of Mumbai, Kalina, Mumbai 400 098, India
4 Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru 560 080, India
5 Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007, India
 

Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) is one of the major AstroSat payloads. The instrument will provide high time-resolution X-ray observations in 3-80 keV energy band with moderate energy resolution. A cluster of three co-aligned identical LAXPC detectors is used in AstroSat to provide large collection area of more than 6000 sq. cm. The large detection volume (15 cm depth) filled with xenon gas at ~2 atm pressure, results in detection efficiency greater than 50% above 30 keV. With its broad energy range and fine-time resolution (10 μs), LAXPC instrument is well suited for timing and spectral studies of a wide variety of known and transient X-ray sources in the sky. We have done extensive calibration of all LAXPC detectors using radioactive sources as well as GEANT4 simulation of LAXPC detectors. We describe in brief some of the results obtained during the payload verification phase along with LAXPC capabilities.

Keywords

Energy- and Time-Resolution, Payloads, Space Observatory, X-Ray Sources.
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  • Large Area X-Ray Proportional Counter Instrument on AstroSat

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Authors

J. S. Yadav
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400 005, India
P. C. Agrawal
UM-DAE Centre of Excellence for Basic Sciences, University of Mumbai, Kalina, Mumbai 400 098, India
H. M. Antia
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai 400 005, India
R. K. Manchanda
University of Mumbai, Kalina, Mumbai 400 098, India
B. Paul
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru 560 080, India
Ranjeev Misra
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Ganeshkhind, Pune 411 007, India

Abstract


Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) is one of the major AstroSat payloads. The instrument will provide high time-resolution X-ray observations in 3-80 keV energy band with moderate energy resolution. A cluster of three co-aligned identical LAXPC detectors is used in AstroSat to provide large collection area of more than 6000 sq. cm. The large detection volume (15 cm depth) filled with xenon gas at ~2 atm pressure, results in detection efficiency greater than 50% above 30 keV. With its broad energy range and fine-time resolution (10 μs), LAXPC instrument is well suited for timing and spectral studies of a wide variety of known and transient X-ray sources in the sky. We have done extensive calibration of all LAXPC detectors using radioactive sources as well as GEANT4 simulation of LAXPC detectors. We describe in brief some of the results obtained during the payload verification phase along with LAXPC capabilities.

Keywords


Energy- and Time-Resolution, Payloads, Space Observatory, X-Ray Sources.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv113%2Fi04%2F591-594