Related papers: High-angular-precision gamma-ray astronomy and pol…
We propose a "thin" detector as a high-angular-precision telescope and polarimeter for cosmic gamma-rays above the pair-creation threshold. We have built a demonstrator based on a gaseous TPC. We are presently characterizing the detector…
The constantly improving sensitivity of ground-based and space-borne observatories has made possible the detection of high-energy emission (X-rays and gamma-rays) from several thousands of extragalactic sources. Enormous progress has been…
There are serious prospects that the next $\gamma$-ray space mission could use a telescope based on silicon pixel detectors. I characterize the potential of such active targets for polarimetry with gamma-ray conversions to pairs and find it…
We have built and tested a compact, low-cost, but very-high-performance astronomical polarimeter based on a continuously rotating half-wave plate and a high-speed imaging detector. The polarimeter is suitable for small telescopes up to ~1 m…
We examine the performance of a TPC as a gamma-ray telescope above the pair-creation threshold. The contributions to the photon angular resolution are studied and their dependence on energy is obtained. The effective area per detector unit…
While the scientific potential of high-energy X-ray and gamma-ray polarimetry has long been recognized, measuring the polarization of high-energy photons is challenging. To date, there has been very few significant detections from an…
A gas Time Projection Chamber can be used for gamma-ray astronomy with excellent angular-precision and sensitivity to faint sources, and for polarimetry, through the measurement of photon conversion to $e^+e^-$ pairs. We present the…
We describe the instrument concept of a high angular resolution telescope dedicated to the sub-GeV (from $\gtrsim$10 MeV to $\gtrsim$1 GeV) gamma-ray photon detection. This mission, named PANGU (PAir-productioN Gamma-ray Unit), has been…
Space-based astronomy of hard X-rays and gamma rays covers more than seven orders of magnitude in photon energy, from 10 keV to several hundred GeV. Detecting cosmic photons in this energy range is a challenge, due to the relatively low…
The Gas Pixel Detector was designed and built as a focal plane instrument for X-ray polarimetry of celestial sources, the last unexplored subtopics of X-ray astronomy. It promises to perform detailed and sensitive measurements resolving…
By detecting the beginning of electron pairs with nuclear emulsion, precise gamma-ray direction and gamma-ray polarization can be detected. With recent advancement in emulsion scanning system, emulsion analyzing capability is becoming…
The maturity of current detectors based on technologies that range from solid state to gases renewed the interest for X-ray polarimetry, raising the enthusiasm of a wide scientific community to improve the performance of polarimeters as…
We describe the current status of the design and development of a Thomson X-ray polarimeter suitable for a small satellite mission. Currently we are considering two detector geometries, one using rectangular detectors placed on four sides…
We present a concept of the X-ray imaging system with high angular-resolution and moderate sensitivity. In this concept, a two-dimensional detector, i.e., imager, is put at a slightly out-of-focused position of the focusing mirror, rather…
Ground-based gamma-ray astronomy is a powerful tool to study cosmic-ray physics, providing a diagnostic of the high-energy processes at work in the most extreme astrophysical accelerators of the universe. Ground-based gamma-ray detectors…
We present commissioning data for the POLISH instrument obtained on the Hale 5-m telescope. The goal of this high precision polarimeter is to constrain orbital inclination of high mass X-ray binaries and to therefore obtain independent mass…
We benchmark various available event generators in Geant4 and EGS5 in the light of ongoing projects for high angular-resolution pair-conversion telescopes. We compare the distributions of key kinematic variables extracted from the geometry…
The Gas Pixel Detector, recently developed and continuously improved by Pisa INFN in collaboration with IASF-Roma of INAF, can visualize the tracks produced within a low Z gas by photoelectrons of few keV. By reconstructing the impact point…
Polarimetry is widely considered a powerful observational technique in X-ray astronomy, useful to enhance our understanding of the emission mechanisms, geometry and magnetic field arrangement of many compact objects. However, the lack of…
Galaxies are key objects for the study of cosmology, the life cycle of matter, and stellar evolution. X-ray observations have given us a new key window into these building blocks of the Universe, that allows us to investigate their hot…