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- Feroci, M., et al.
(author)
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Monitoring the hard X-ray sky with SuperAGILE
- 2010
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 510, s. A9-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context SuperAGILE is the hard X-ray monitor of the AGILE gamma ray mission, in orbit since 23 April 2007. It is an imaging experiment based on a set of four independent silicon strip detectors, equipped with one-dimensional coded masks, operating in the nominal energy range 18-60 keV. Aims. The main goal of SuperAGILE is the observation of cosmic sources simultaneously with the main gamma-ray AGILE experiment, the Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID). Given its similar to steradian-wide field of view and its similar to 15 mCrab day-sensitivity, SuperAGILE is also well suited to the long-term monitoring of Galactic compact objects and the detection of bright transients. Methods. The SuperAGILE detector properties and design allow for a 6 arcmin angular resolution in each of the two independent orthogonal projections of the celestial coordinates. Photon by photon data are continuously available by means of experiment telemetry, and are used to derive images and fluxes of individual sources, with integration times depending on the source intensity and position in the field of view. Results. We report on the main scientific results achieved by SuperAGILE over its first two years in orbit, until April 2009. The scientific observations started in mid-July 2007, with the science verification phase, continuing during the complete AGILE Cycle 1 and the first similar to half of Cycle 2. Despite the largely non-uniform sky coverage, due to the pointing strategy of the AGILE mission, a few tens of Galactic sources were monitored, sometimes for unprecedently long continuous periods, leading to the detection also of several bursts and outbursts. Approximately one gamma ray burst per month was detected and localized, allowing for prompt multi-wavelength observations. A few extragalactic sources in bright states were occasionally detected as well. The light curves of sources measured by SuperAGILE are made publicly available on the web in almost real-time. To enable a proper scientific use of these, we provide the reader with the relevant scientific and technical background.
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- Pittori, C., et al.
(author)
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First AGILE catalog of high-confidence gamma-ray sources
- 2009
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 506:3, s. 1563-1574
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the first catalog of high-confidence gamma-ray sources detected by the AGILE satellite during observations performed from July 9, 2007 to June 30, 2008. Cataloged sources were detected by merging all the available data over the entire time period. AGILE, launched in April 2007, is an ASI mission devoted to gamma-ray observations in the 30 MeV-50 GeV energy range, with simultaneous X-ray imaging capability in the 18-60 keV band. This catalog is based on Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) data for energies greater than 100 MeV. For the first AGILE catalog, we adopted a conservative analysis, with a high-quality event filter optimized to select gamma-ray events within the central zone of the instrument field of view (radius of 40 degrees). This is a significance-limited (4 sigma) catalog, and it is not a complete flux-limited sample due to the non-uniform first-year AGILE sky coverage. The catalog includes 47 sources, 21 of which are associated with confirmed or candidate pulsars, 13 with blazars (7 FSRQ, 4 BL Lacs, 2 unknown type), 2 with HMXRBs, 2 with SNRs, 1 with a colliding-wind binary system, and 8 with unidentified sources.
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- Ankowski, A., et al.
(author)
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Energy reconstruction of electromagnetic showers from Ν0 decays with the ICARUS T600 liquid argon TPC
- 2010
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In: Acta Physica Polonica, Series B.. - 1509-5770 .- 0587-4254. ; 41:1, s. 103-125
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We discuss the ICARUS T600 detector capabilities in electromagnetic shower reconstruction through the analysis of a sample of 212 events, coming from the 2001 Pavia surface test run, of hadronic interactions leading to the production of π 0 mesons. Methods of shower energy and shower direction measurements were developed and the invariant mass of the photon pairs was reconstructed. The (γγ) invariant mass was found to be consistent with the value of the π 0 mass. The resolution of the reconstructed π 0 mass was found to be equal to 27.3%. An improved analysis, carried out in order to clean the full event sample from the events measured in the crowded environment, mostly due to the trigger conditions, gave a π 0 mass resolution of 16.1%, significantly better than the one evaluated for the full event sample. The trigger requirement of the coincidence of at least four photo-multiplier signals favored the selection of events with a strong pile up of cosmic ray tracks and interactions. Hence a number of candidate π 0 events were heavily contaminated by other tracks and had to be rejected. Monte Carlo simulations of events with π 0 production in hadronic and neutrino interactions confirmed the validity of the shower energy and shower direction reconstruction methods applied to the real data.
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- Ankowski, A, et al.
(author)
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Energy reconstruction of electromagnetic showers from π0 decays with the ICARUS T600 liquid argon TPC
- 2010
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In: Acta Physica Polonica B. - : Jagellonian University. - 0587-4254 .- 1509-5770. ; 41:1, s. 103-125
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We discuss the ICARUS T600 detector capabilities in electromagnetic shower reconstruction through the analysis of a sample of 212 events, coming from the 2001 Pavia surface test run, of hadronic interactions leading to the production of π0 mesons. Methods of shower energy and shower direction measurements were developed and the invariant mass of the photon pairs was reconstructed. The (γ,γ) invariant mass was found to be consistent with the value of the π0 mass. The resolution of the reconstructed π0 mass was found to be equal to 27.3%. An improved analysis, carried out in order to clean the full event sample from the events measured in the crowded environment, mostly due to the trigger conditions, gave a π0 mass resolution of 16.1%, significantly better than the one evaluated for the full event sample. The trigger requirement of the coincidence of at least four photo-multiplier signals favored the selection of events with a strong pile up of cosmic ray tracks and interactions. Hence a number of candidate π0 events were heavily contaminated by other tracks and had to be rejected. Monte Carlo simulations of events with π0 production in hadronic and neutrino interactions confirmed the validity of the shower energy and shower direction reconstruction methods applied to the real data.
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