THE PHYSICS OF THE RANGE TELESCOPE TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING THE ISOTOPIC ABUNDANCE OF ENERGETIC PARTICLES IN SPACE.
Abstract
The physical principles that enable a range telescope to identify energetic particles and the limits imposed by straggling and multiple scattering statistics upon the resolution and efficiency of the device are described. The simple theory of dE/dx-E and dE/dx-range telescopes is given. The effects of detector noise, charge collection statistics and, more important, Landau straggling upon the resolution of a range telescope, and the effects of multiple scattering and nuclear absorption upon its efficiency are estimated. Formulas for the geometric factor of a general telescope array are derived. The counting rates and background rates anticipated for a particular telescope design are estimated, and the energy domain in which it can be expected to operate is defined. Although numerical results are presented only for a single flight instrument, it is hoped the design considerations collected in this report will be useful to the analysis of a variety of counter telescope configurations. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0800222
Entities
People
- Peter A. M. Gram
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation