SWIFT/BAT calibration and the estimated BAT hard x-ray survey sensitivity

Ann M. Parsons; Jack Tueller; Hans Krimm; Scott D. Barthelmy; James Cummings; Craig Markwardt; Derek Hullinger; Neil Gehrels; Ed Fenimore; David Palmer; Goro Sato; Kazuhiro Nakazawa; Tadayuki Takahashi; Shin Watanabe; Yuu Okada; Hiromitsu Takahashi; Masaya Suzuki; Makoto Tashiro

doi:10.1117/12.506309

3 February 2004 Swift/BAT calibration and the estimated BAT hard x-ray survey sensitivity

Ann M. Parsons, Jack Tueller, Hans Krimm, Scott D. Barthelmy, James Cummings, Craig Markwardt, Derek Hullinger, Neil Gehrels, Ed Fenimore, David Palmer, Goro Sato, Kazuhiro Nakazawa, Tadayuki Takahashi, Shin Watanabe, Yuu Okada, Hiromitsu Takahashi, Masaya Suzuki, Makoto Tashiro

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5165, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII; (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.506309
Event: Optical Science and Technology, SPIE's 48th Annual Meeting, 2003, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

In addition to providing the initial gamma-ray burst trigger and location, the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) will also perform an all-sky hard x-ray survey based on serendipitous pointings resulting from the study of gamma-ray bursts. BAT was designed with a very wide field-of-view (FOV) so that it can observe roughly 1/7 of the sky at any time. Since gamma-ray bursts are uniformly distributed over the sky, the final BAT survey coverage is expected to be nearly uniform. BAT's large effective area and long sky exposures will produce a 15 - 150 keV survey with up to 30 times better sensitivity than any previous hard x-ray survey (e.g. HEAO A4). Since the sensitivity of deep exposures in this energy range is systematics limited, the ultimate survey sensitivity depends on the relative sizes of the statistical and systematic errors in the data. Many careful calibration experiments were performed at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center to better understand the BAT instrument's response to 15-150 keV gamma-rays incident from any direction within the FOV. Using radioactive sources of gamma-rays with known locations and energies, the Swift team can identify potential systematic errors in the telescope's performance and estimate the actual Swift hard x-ray survey sensitivity in flight. These calibration results will be discussed and a preliminary parameterization of the BAT instrument response will be presented. While the details of the individual BAT CZT detector response will be presented elsewhere in these proceedings, this talk will focus on the translation of the calibration experimental data into overall hard x-ray survey sensitivity.

Citation Download Citation

Ann M. Parsons, Jack Tueller, Hans Krimm, Scott D. Barthelmy, James Cummings, Craig Markwardt, Derek Hullinger, Neil Gehrels, Ed Fenimore, David Palmer, Goro Sato, Kazuhiro Nakazawa, Tadayuki Takahashi, Shin Watanabe, Yuu Okada, Hiromitsu Takahashi, Masaya Suzuki, and Makoto Tashiro "Swift/BAT calibration and the estimated BAT hard x-ray survey sensitivity", Proc. SPIE 5165, X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy XIII, (3 February 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.506309

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available