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Register a new userSuperAGILE: the X-ray Monitor of the AGILE gamma-ray Mission
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SuperAGILE is the X-ray stage of the AGILE gamma-ray mission. It is devoted to monitor X-ray (10-40 keV) sources with a sensitivity better than 10 mCrabs in 50 ks and to detect X-ray transients in a field of view of 1.8 sr, well matched to that of the gamma-ray tracker, with few arc-minutes position resolution and better than 5 us timing resolution. SuperAGILE is designed to exploit one additional layer of four Si microstrip detectors placed on top of the AGILE tracker, and a system of four mutually orthogonal one-dimensional coded masks to encode the X-ray sky. The total geometric area is 1444 cm^2. Low noise electronics based on ASIC technology composes the front-end read out. We present here the instrumental and astrophysical performances of SuperAGILE as derived by analytical calculations, Monte Carlo simulations and experimental tests on a prototype of the silicon microstrip detector and front-end electronics.
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SuperAGILE is a coded mask experiment based on silicon microstrip detectors. It operates in the 15-45 keV nominal energy range, providing crossed one-dimensional images of the X-ray sky with an on-axis angular resolution of 6 arcmin, over a field of view in excess of 1 steradian. It was designed as the hard X-ray monitor of the AGILE space mission, a small satellite of the Italian Space Agency devoted to image the gamma-ray sky in the 30 MeV - 50 GeV energy band. The AGILE mission was launched in a low-earth orbit on 23^{rd} April 2007. In this paper we describe the SuperAGILE experiment, its construction and test processes, and its performance before flight, based on the on-ground test and calibrations.
We describe the AGILE gamma-ray astronomy satellite which has recently been selected as the first Small Scientific Mission of the Italian Space Agency. With a launch in 2002, AGILE will provide a unique tool for high-energy astrophysics in the 30 MeV - 50 GeV range before GLAST. Despite the much smaller weight and dimensions, the scientific performances of AGILE are comparable to those of EGRET.
SuperAGILE is the hard X-ray monitor of the AGILE gamma ray mission, in orbit since 23$^{rd}$ 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. 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 $sim$steradian-wide field of view and its $sim$15 mCrab day-sensitivity, SuperAGILE is also well suited for the long-term monitoring of Galactic compact objects and the detection of bright transients. 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 the 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. In this paper we report on the main scientific results achieved by SuperAGILE over its first two years in orbit, until April 2009.
GRB 070724B is the first Gamma Ray Burst localized by SuperAGILE, the hard X-ray monitor aboard the AGILE satellite. The coordinates of the event were published $sim 19$ hours after the trigger. The Swift X-Ray Telescope pointed at the SuperAGILE location and detected the X-ray afterglow inside the SuperAGILE error circle. The AGILE gamma-ray Tracker and Minicalorimeter did not detect any significant gamma ray emission associated with GRB 070724B in the MeV and GeV range, neither prompt nor delayed. Searches of the optical afterglow were performed by the Swift UVOT and the Palomar automated 60-inch telescopes without any significant detection. Similarly the Very Large Array did not detect a radio afterglow. This is the first GRB event with a firm upper limit in the 100 MeV -- 30 GeV energy range, associated with an X-ray afterglow.
We present the Microchannel X-ray Telescope, a new light and compact focussing telescope that will be flying on the Sino-French SVOM mission dedicated to Gamma-Ray Burst science. The MXT design is based on the coupling of square pore micro-channel plates with a low noise pnCCD. MXT will provide an effective area of about 50 cmsq, and its point spread function is expected to be better than 3.7 arc min (FWHM) on axis. The estimated sensitivity is adequate to detect all the afterglows of the SVOM GRBs, and to localize them to better then 60 arc sec after five minutes of observation.
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