PoGOLite
Encyclopedia
PoGOLite is a balloon
-borne astroparticle physics
experiment which is to measure polarisation in hard X-rays and soft gamma-rays. It is sensitive to photons with an energy range of 25-80 keV. PoGOLite contains 217 phoswich detector
cells (PDC) which are surrounded by a ring of side anticoincidence shield (SAS) detectors.
facility in northern Sweden
during summer 2011. The flight was to be the first circumpolar balloon flight in the northern hemisphere and was expected to take 17–25 days.
The main targets of the pathfinder experiment was to be the Crab Pulsar
and Crab Nebula
, and the Cygnus X-1
high mass X-ray binary system, which are two of the brightest objects in the energy range of PoGOLite.
The mission was launched at 1:57am Thursday 7 July 2011 (23h57 GMT Wednesday 6 July 2011) from Esrange, Sweden. However, it was brought back down by 7:00am from an altitude of 35 km, because of a helium leak. The payload landed near Nikkaluokta
just before the mountains around the Sweden-Norway border where a landing would have caused more potential damage. The payload was returned to the Esrange site on the 8th of July after which initial test showed only minor damage to the payload.
Balloon
A balloon is an inflatable flexible bag filled with a gas, such as helium, hydrogen, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or air. Modern balloons can be made from materials such as rubber, latex, polychloroprene, or a nylon fabric, while some early balloons were made of dried animal bladders, such as the pig...
-borne astroparticle physics
Astroparticle physics
Astroparticle physics, the same as particle astrophysics, is that branch of particle physics that studies elementary particles of astronomical origin, and their relation to astrophysics and cosmology. It is a relatively new field of research emerging at the intersection of particle physics,...
experiment which is to measure polarisation in hard X-rays and soft gamma-rays. It is sensitive to photons with an energy range of 25-80 keV. PoGOLite contains 217 phoswich detector
Phoswich Detector
Originally, "Phoswich detectors were developed to detect low-intensity, low-energy gamma rays, X-rays, as well as alpha and beta particles efficiently in a higher-energy ambient background...
cells (PDC) which are surrounded by a ring of side anticoincidence shield (SAS) detectors.
PoGOLite Pathfinder mission
The pathfinder instrument containing 61 PDCs and 30 SAS detectors was scheduled to be launched from the EsrangeEsrange
Esrange Space Center is a rocket range and research centre located outside the town of Kiruna in northern Sweden. It is a base for scientific research with high altitude balloons, investigation of the aurora borealis, sounding rocket launches, and satellite tracking, among other things...
facility in northern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
during summer 2011. The flight was to be the first circumpolar balloon flight in the northern hemisphere and was expected to take 17–25 days.
The main targets of the pathfinder experiment was to be the Crab Pulsar
Crab Pulsar
The Crab Pulsar is a relatively young neutron star. The star is the central star in the Crab Nebula, a remnant of the supernova SN 1054, which was widely observed on Earth in the year 1054...
and Crab Nebula
Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant and pulsar wind nebula in the constellation of Taurus...
, and the Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1
Cygnus X-1 is a well-known galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight and is one of the strongest X-ray sources seen from Earth, producing a peak X-ray flux density of 2.3 Wm−2Hz−1...
high mass X-ray binary system, which are two of the brightest objects in the energy range of PoGOLite.
The mission was launched at 1:57am Thursday 7 July 2011 (23h57 GMT Wednesday 6 July 2011) from Esrange, Sweden. However, it was brought back down by 7:00am from an altitude of 35 km, because of a helium leak. The payload landed near Nikkaluokta
Nikkaluokta
Nikkaluokta is a Swedish Sami village in Norrbotten County. The village belongs to Gällivare Municipality, bordering Kiruna Municipality, the closest urban area some 60 kilometers away...
just before the mountains around the Sweden-Norway border where a landing would have caused more potential damage. The payload was returned to the Esrange site on the 8th of July after which initial test showed only minor damage to the payload.