Study of Cosmic Gamma Radiation.

Abstract

Research performed under the grant is summarized, consisting of two main components: balloon flights of a large spark chamber in search of discrete sources of gamma rays with energy above 700 MeV, and development of a very large gamma-ray telescope, 4.6 square meters in sensitive area, utilizing Cerenkov radiation in a low-pressure gas to detect gamma rays above 150 MeV with good angular resolution and excellent background rejection. The spark chamber flights detected no sources yielding more than 0.000005 gammas per square centimeter-sec. An apparent source of about this strength, close to the location of M87, may be a statistical fluctuation. Properties of the Cerenkov telescope and its behavior in sea level tests are summarized, but termination of the grant occurred before flights of the instrument could be carried out. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 1970
Accession Number
AD0716492

Entities

People

  • Kenneth I. Greisen

Organizations

  • Cornell University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Cerenkov Radiation
  • Chambers
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Gamma Rays
  • Ionizing Radiation
  • Nuclear Radiation
  • Radiation
  • Rejection
  • Sea Level
  • Spark Chambers
  • Telescopes

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Solar Physics

Technology Areas

  • Space