The POLAR gamma-ray burst polarimeter onboard the Chinese Spacelab

Silvio Orsi; Franck Cadoux; Catherine Leluc; Mercedes Paniccia; Martin Pohl; Divic Rapin; Neal Gauvin; Nicolas Produit; Tianwei Bao; Junying Chai; Yongwei Dong; Minnan Kong; Li Lu; Jiangtao Liu; Xin Liu; Haoli Shi; Jianchao Sun; Ruijie Wang; Xing Wen; Bobing Wu; Hualin Xiao; Hanhui Xu; Li Zhang; Laiyu Zhang; Shuangnan Zhang; Yongjie Zhang; Ilia Britvich; Wojtek Hajdas; Radoslaw Marcinkowski; Dominik K. Rybka; Tadeusz Batsch; Aleksandra Rutczynska; Jacek Szabelski; Ania Zwolinska

doi:10.1117/12.2055910

24 July 2014 The POLAR gamma-ray burst polarimeter onboard the Chinese Spacelab

Silvio Orsi, Franck Cadoux, Catherine Leluc, Mercedes Paniccia, Martin Pohl, Divic Rapin, Neal Gauvin, Nicolas Produit, Tianwei Bao, Junying Chai, Yongwei Dong, Minnan Kong, Li Lu, Jiangtao Liu, Xin Liu, Haoli Shi, Jianchao Sun, Ruijie Wang, Xing Wen, Bobing Wu, Hualin Xiao, Hanhui Xu, Li Zhang, Laiyu Zhang, Shuangnan Zhang, Yongjie Zhang, Ilia Britvich, Wojtek Hajdas, Radoslaw Marcinkowski, Dominik K. Rybka, Tadeusz Batsch, Aleksandra Rutczynska, Jacek Szabelski, Ania Zwolinska

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 91440M (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055910
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

POLAR is a joint European-Chinese experiment aimed at a precise measurement of hard X-ray polarization (50-500 keV) of the prompt emission of Gamma-Ray Bursts. The main aim is a better understanding of the geometry of astrophysical sources and of the X-ray emission mechanisms. POLAR is a compact Compton polarimeter characterized by a large modulation factor, effective area, and field of view. It consists of 1600 low-Z plastic scintillator bars read out by 25 at-panel multi-anode photomultipliers. The incoming X-rays undergo Compton scattering in the bars and produce a modulation pattern; experiments with polarized synchrotron radiation and GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulations have shown that the polarization degree and angle can be retrieved from this pattern with the accuracy necessary for identifying the GRB mechanism. The flight model of POLAR is currently under construction in Geneva. The POLAR instrument will be placed onboard the Chinese spacelab TG-2, scheduled for launch in low Earth orbit in 2015. The main milestones of the space qualification campaign will be described in the paper.

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Silvio Orsi, Franck Cadoux, Catherine Leluc, Mercedes Paniccia, Martin Pohl, Divic Rapin, Neal Gauvin, Nicolas Produit, Tianwei Bao, Junying Chai, Yongwei Dong, Minnan Kong, Li Lu, Jiangtao Liu, Xin Liu, Haoli Shi, Jianchao Sun, Ruijie Wang, Xing Wen, Bobing Wu, Hualin Xiao, Hanhui Xu, Li Zhang, Laiyu Zhang, Shuangnan Zhang, Yongjie Zhang, Ilia Britvich, Wojtek Hajdas, Radoslaw Marcinkowski, Dominik K. Rybka, Tadeusz Batsch, Aleksandra Rutczynska, Jacek Szabelski, and Ania Zwolinska "The POLAR gamma-ray burst polarimeter onboard the Chinese Spacelab", Proc. SPIE 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 91440M (24 July 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2055910

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