The high pressure xenon ionisation chamber was designed for measurements gamma-ray lines from cosmic sources in the energy range 0.1 - 10 MeV. This chamber was installed on board of the orbital station "MIR" and the measurements are carried out. The 3 litter's chamber was filled with 0.6 'ifcm3 density xenon mixed with hydrogen for increasing the drift velocity of electrons. The energy resolution is 1.3% FWHM at photon energy I MeV without electronics noise (2.00/o total). This experiment has been lasting for about three years without any degradation although the detector is strongly irradiated traversing the South-Atlantic anomaly four times a day. The high energy resolution of xenon ionisation chamber made it possible to register lines in gamma-ray bursts energy spectra. Up to this time we have observed events with ~Fe* deexitation and red-shifted 511 keV annihilation lines. This experiment is carried out on board of the heavy orbital station. The distortion of measured data by the induced in vessel mass radioactivity is measured. Also we discuss the influence of vil<ration and acoustic noise.

Date Published: 19 November 1993
PDF: 4 pages
Proc. SPIE 2006, EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy IV, (19 November 1993); doi: 10.1117/12.162824

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2006:
EUV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Instrumentation for Astronomy IV
Oswald H. W. Siegmund, Editor(s)