Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Fishman, G. J..
Four radioactive isotopes found in aluminum and stainless steel samples from Skylab debris were recovered in Australia. The low-level activity was induced by high-energy protons and neutrons in the space environment. Measurements of the specific activities are given.
Cygnus X-3 was observed in the energy range 50-400 keV using a balloon-borne, actively collimated, NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The observation was made from phase 0.45-0.91 of the 4.8 hour period. The photon number spectrum was well represented by a power law with index -2.2. The flux increased throughout the observation, consistent with a highly asymmetric light curve with a peak near phase 0.9.
The log N-log S relationships for several galactic distribution models of gamma-ray burst sources are derived. The resulting curves are substantially different from the galactic curves usually assumed (slope = -1). There is a relatively weak dependence on the radial distribution assumed but a strong dependence on scale height. Available observational data from several experiments appear to rule out both thin disk distributions and extended halo distributions which have a strong radial density dependence. The prospects are good for obtaining self-consistent distribution data from future large-area detectors.
A 13-deg-wide region of sky containing the high-energy gamma-ray source CG 195+4 was searched for X-ray and gamma-ray emission in the energy interval from 0.035 to 8.737 MeV. The balloon-altitude measurements were undertaken on October 4, 1977, at Palestine, Texas, and used an actively collimated scintillation counter. As a result of the measurements, low upper limits have been found for the spectrum from the source. Combined with the positive detections made with satellites at high energies, the measurements show that the photon number spectrum must have a spectral index harder than 2.0. The data appear inconsistent with models of the source in which the presumed neutron star is surrounded by a cloud thick to X-rays. Negative results of the search for periodicity are discussed.
A 5 inch by 5 inch diameter sodium iodide scintillation crystal, viewed by a 5 inch photomultiplier was designed to be mounted near the center of the shuttle payload bay to quantitatively measure the neutron and gamma ray environment during the second Spacelab mission. The expected energy resolution is 8% FWHM at 662 keV. The detector will operate in an energy range from 0.1 to 20 MeV. A charged anticoincidence shield consisting of a 1 cm thick plastic scintillator viewed by three 2 inch photomultiplier tubes, covers the crystal detector which has nearly omnidirectional response.
Two balloon flights of large-area scintillation crystal detector arrays indicate that the rate of weak gamma-ray bursts is significantly below that expected from a uniform distribution of burst sources. This result, combined with the data from stronger bursts, gives strong evidence for a galactic confinement of burst sources. Reasonable models of confinement limit the intrinsic radiated energy per burst to the order of 10 to the (39th to 41st power) ergs.
The HEAO-A observatory, scheduled for launch in late June 1977, will spend most of its orbital lifetime in a scanning mode, spining from 0.03 to 0.1 rpm about an axis aligned with the sun. The dates of availability in the scan band are given for a list of 248 X-ray sources. Celestial maps of source locations and scan planes, and examples of the nighttime elevation of available sources are presented. This document is intended to aid ground-based observers in planning coordinated observations with HEAO-A.
Radioactivity induced by protons in sodium iodide scintillation crystals were calculated and directly measured. These data are useful in determining trapped radiation and cosmic-ray induced, background-counting rates in spaceborne detectors.
Measurements of the 104 sec pulse profile of A0535+26 at energies near 50 keV are reported. The data were obtained with a balloon-borne detector system which was launched on May 22, 1975 with the objective to observe transient or periodic emissions from X-ray or gamma-ray sources. The presence of the source was detected by a superposed epoch analysis. The pulse profile of A0535+26 in two energy channels is presented in a graph.
Measurements have been made of an azimuthal asymmetry of atmospheric radiation at balloon altitudes and mid-latitudes. The measured asymmetry is 6% peak to peak in the north-south direction at energies above 500 keV. A lack of east-west asymmetry indicates that the arrival direction of the atmospheric radiation is highly decoupled from that of the primary radiation. Present models of secondary atmospheric radiation production and transport do not quantitatively agree with the observations.
An evaluation was made of the potential radiation hazards to the crew and equipment of a geosynchronous space station. Tissue dose rates for electron, bremsstrahlung, galactic cosmic rays, and solar proton events are included for parking longitudes of 110 and 290 degrees at orbit inclinations of 0, 30, and 45 degrees.
An array of large multicrystal NaI(Tl) detectors was constructed and used in a balloon-borne experiment to observe weak transient bursts of cosmic origin. The array had an active area of about 1 sq m and was sensitive to photons above 50 keV. Localized bursts which were observed are attributed to long-lived phosphorescence following large energy deposits by cosmic rays in the crystals.
A new technique has been developed to locate strong, transient X-ray sources such as the recently discovered gamma ray bursts. The instrument, termed a shadowgraph, locates sources by detecting the X-ray shadow cast by a large occulting mask pattern on an imaging detector. Angular resolutions of from 2 to 10 arc minutes are obtainable while essentially full sky coverage is maintained. The optimum energy range of operation is between 20 keV and 100 keV. The high efficiency X-ray imaging detectors, which make it possible to locate bursts with intensities down to approximately 10 photons/sq cm sec, are capable of detecting single 20 keV photons with a spatial resolution of approximately 0.2 mm. The detectors consist of an X-ray to optical conversion phosphor, a multistage image intensifier, and a CCD image readout.
Radioactivity induced by high-energy protons and secondary neutrons (from nuclear interactions) in various samples returned from different locations in Skylab was measured directly by gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements of decay gamma rays from the samples. Incident fluxes were derived from the activation measurements, using known nuclear cross-section. Neutron and proton flux values were found to range from 0.2 to 5 particles/sq cm-sec, depending on the energy range and location in Skylab. The thermal neutron flux was less than 0.07 neutrons/sq cm-sec. The results are useful for data analysis and planning of future high-energy astronomy experiments.
Neutron and proton induced radioactivity at various locations within Skylab were measured. Samples of five metals were formed into activation packets and deployed at the following locations on the Skylab 4 mission: orbital workshop film vault, water storage tank, and two opposing orbital workshop internal locations. Radioactive nuclides were produced in the packets by nuclear interactions of high-energy protons and secondary neutrons within Skylab. Low-level gamma ray spectroscopy measurements were made on the returned packets to determine the incident neutron and proton fluxes and spectra and their variations with mass distribution.
The relative intensities of nuclear gamma-ray lines produced by inelastic collisions of low-energy cosmic ray nuclei with interstellar hydrogen have been calculated using assumed interstellar spectra which are power laws in kinetic energy. The intensity of the line at 511 keV produced by the annihilation of positrons emitted by radioactive nuclei resulting from similar collisions was also calculated. The 478 keV gamma-ray due to inelastic scattering of Li-7 is more intense than the positron line for spectral indicies Li-7 assuming that presently accepted cosmic ray abundances apply at low energies.
The effects of cosmic ray induced radioactivity on diffuse gamma ray measurements are analyzed. Data cover physical processes involved and the derivation of corrections due to induced radioactivity.
The observation of a gamma-ray line feature from the direction of the galactic center by Johnson, Harnden, and Haymes is interpreted as the 478-keV nuclear de-excitation of low-energy Li-7 cosmic rays as they inelastically scatter from the interstellar gas. The prediction of an associated line at 432 keV is proposed as a definitive test of this idea.