Related papers: The IXPE Instrument Calibration Equipment
X-rays are particularly suited to probe the physics of extreme objects. However, despite the enormous improvements of X-ray Astronomy in imaging, spectroscopy and timing, polarimetry remains largely unexplored. We propose the photoelectric…
Polarimetry remains a largely unexploited technique in observational X-ray astronomy which could provide insight in the study of the strong gravity and magnetic fields at the core of the Constellation-X observational program. Adding a…
The X-ray Timing and Polarization (XTP) is a mission concept for a future space borne X-ray observatory and is currently selected for early phase study. We present a new design of X-ray polarimeter based on the time projection gas chamber.…
X-ray polarimetry promises to give qualitatively new information about high-energy astrophysical sources, such as binary black hole systems, micro-quasars, active galactic nuclei, neutron stars, and gamma-ray bursts. We designed, built and…
We present a novel X-ray assembly of functionally related instrument blocks intended to measure solar flare and active region (AR) spectra from within the Russian instrument complex KORTES, to be mounted aboard the International Space…
The balloon-borne LSPE mission is optimized to measure the linear polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background at large angular scales. The Short Wavelength Instrument for the Polarization Explorer (SWIPE) is composed of 3 arrays of…
As the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) measures increasingly faint sources, the need for precise polarimetry extraction becomes paramount. In addition to previously described neural-net (NN) weights, we introduce here point-spread…
X-Calibur is a balloon-borne telescope that measures the polarization of high-energy X-rays in the 15--50keV energy range. The instrument makes use of the fact that X-rays scatter preferentially perpendicular to the polarization direction.…
This white paper highlights compact object and fundamental physics science opportunities afforded by high-throughput broadband (0.1-60 keV) X-ray polarization observations. X-ray polarimetry gives new observables with geometric information…
[Abridged] The measurement of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation is one of the current frontiers in cosmology. In particular, the detection of the primordial B-modes, could reveal the presence of gravitational…
In this chapter we present a brief summary of methods, instruments and calibration techniques used in modern astronomical polarimetry in the optical wavelengths. We describe the properties of various polarization devices and detectors used…
Polarization measurements of the prompt emission in Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) can provide diagnostic information for understanding the nature of the central engine. POLAR is a compact polarimeter dedicated to the polarization measurement of…
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…
The POLAR detector is a space based Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) polarimeter with a wide field of view, which covers almost half the sky. The instrument uses Compton scattering of gamma rays on a plastic scintillator hodoscope to measure the…
POLAR is space-borne detector designed for a precise measurement of gamma-ray polarization of the prompt emissions of Gamma-Ray Bursts in the energy range 50 keV - 500 keV. POLAR is a compact Compton polarimeter consisting of 40$\times$ 40…
POLAR is a space-borne hard X-ray Compton polarimeter built by a collaboration of institutes from Switzerland, China and Poland. Precise detection of the polarization can be a powerful tool to unveil emission mechanisms of e.g. Gamma-Ray…
We devised and built a versatile facility for the calibration of the next generation X-ray polarimeters with unpolarized and polarized radiation. The former is produced at 5.9 keV by means of a Fe55 radioactive source or by X-ray tubes,…
The CUbesat Solar Polarimeter (CUSP) project is a CubeSat mission planned for a launch in low-Earth orbit and aimed to measure the linear polarization of solar flares in the hard X-ray band by means of a Compton scattering polarimeter. CUSP…
X-rays astrophysical sources have been almost exclusively characterized through imaging, spectroscopy and timing analysis. Nevertheless, more observational parameters are needed because some radiation mechanisms present in neutrons stars or…
Focal plane X-ray polarimetry is intended for relatively bright sources with a negligible impact of background. However this might not be always possible for IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) when observing faint extended sources…