A fleet of nanosatellites using precise timing synchronization provided by the Global Positioning System is a new concept for monitoring the gamma-ray sky that can achieve both all-sky coverage and good localization accuracy. We are proposing this new concept for the mission CubeSats Applied for MEasuring and LOcalising Transients (CAMELOT). The differences in photon arrival times at each satellite are to be used for source localization. Detectors with good photon statistics and the development of a localization algorithm capable of handling a large number of satellites are both essential for this mission. Large, thin CsI scintillator plates are the current candidates for the detectors because of their high light yields. It is challenging to maximize the light-collection efficiency and to understand the position dependence of such thin plates. We have found a multi-channel readout that uses the coincidence technique to be very effective in increasing the light output while keeping a similar noise level to that of a single channel readout. Based on such a detector design, we have developed a localization algorithm for this mission and have found that we can achieve a localization accuracy better than 20 arc minutes and a rate of about 10 short gamma-ray bursts per year.
@article{arxiv.1806.03686,
title = {CAMELOT: design and performance verification of the detector concept and localization capability},
author = {Masanori Ohno and Norbert Werner and András Pál and Jakub Řípa and Gabór Galgóczi and Norbert Tarcai and Zsolt Várhegyi and Yasushi Fukazawa and Tsunefumi Mizuno and Hiromitsu Takahashi and Koji Tanaka and Nagomi Uchida and Kento Torigoe and Kazuhiro Nakazawa and Teruaki Enoto and Hirokazu Odaka and Yuto Ichinohe and Zsolt Frei and Lászó Kiss},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1806.03686},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray