Surveying the Gamma-ray sky with the BATSE and INTEGRAL satellites
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| Title: | Surveying the Gamma-ray sky with the BATSE and INTEGRAL satellites |
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| Authors: | Hill, Adam Ben |
| Summary: | This thesis describes the developments and contributions made by Adam Hill to survey the Gamma-ray sky with the BATSE and INTEGRAL satellites. The soft γ-ray sky has been relatively unexplored on large scales. The last survey of the entire sky in this energy band was made by the HEAO-1 A4 mission in the late 1970's. This thesis takes advantage of new techniques and instruments to probe the source populations of the γ-ray sky in the energy band 20-160 keV. The BATSE instrument served as the all-sky monitor on-board the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory for 9 years. By applying the newly developed LIMBO software and CLEAN algorithms an all-sky map of the sky is constructed using all 9 years of BATSE data. The map is constructed using data which spans the 30-160 keV energy band and produces a source catalogue of 36 sources down to a flux of ~20 mCrab. The performance and limitations of this new technique are assessed and presented. IBIS is the imager on-board the INTEGRAL γ-ray observatory. Data from IBIS is used in the construction of mosaics of the γ-ray sky which span the 20-100 keV energy band. The techniques and methods of the 1st and 2nd IBIS/ISGRI Survey Catalogues are presented which identify 123 and 209 discrete γ-ray sources respectively. The global properties of the sources of the 1st IBIS/ISGRI Survey Catalogue are analysed on a statistical basis. The properties of the X-ray binary populations and the unclassified INTEGRAL sources are presented. The unclassified source population are seen to share many of the characteristics of the high mass systems. A detailed study of IGR J18027-2016 indicates that it is a proto-typical example of the new INTEGRAL sources and is identified to be an obscured, supergiant high mass X-ray binary with a neutron star companion. |
| URL: | https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.434099 |
| Database: | OpenDissertations |
| Abstract: | This thesis describes the developments and contributions made by Adam Hill to survey the Gamma-ray sky with the BATSE and INTEGRAL satellites. The soft γ-ray sky has been relatively unexplored on large scales. The last survey of the entire sky in this energy band was made by the HEAO-1 A4 mission in the late 1970's. This thesis takes advantage of new techniques and instruments to probe the source populations of the γ-ray sky in the energy band 20-160 keV. The BATSE instrument served as the all-sky monitor on-board the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory for 9 years. By applying the newly developed LIMBO software and CLEAN algorithms an all-sky map of the sky is constructed using all 9 years of BATSE data. The map is constructed using data which spans the 30-160 keV energy band and produces a source catalogue of 36 sources down to a flux of ~20 mCrab. The performance and limitations of this new technique are assessed and presented. IBIS is the imager on-board the INTEGRAL γ-ray observatory. Data from IBIS is used in the construction of mosaics of the γ-ray sky which span the 20-100 keV energy band. The techniques and methods of the 1st and 2nd IBIS/ISGRI Survey Catalogues are presented which identify 123 and 209 discrete γ-ray sources respectively. The global properties of the sources of the 1st IBIS/ISGRI Survey Catalogue are analysed on a statistical basis. The properties of the X-ray binary populations and the unclassified INTEGRAL sources are presented. The unclassified source population are seen to share many of the characteristics of the high mass systems. A detailed study of IGR J18027-2016 indicates that it is a proto-typical example of the new INTEGRAL sources and is identified to be an obscured, supergiant high mass X-ray binary with a neutron star companion. |
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