The prototype nuclear Compton telescope: Observations of the Galactic Anticenter region

Observations of the Galactic Anticenter region and atmospheric 511 keV positron annihilation emission have been performed with a prototype of the Nuclear Compton Telescope (NCT) during a high altitude balloon flight on June 1, 2005 from Ft. Sumner, NM. NCT is a balloon-borne soft gamma-ray (0.2 MeV to 10 MeV) germanium Compton telescope (GCT) designed to study astrophysical sources of nuclear line emission and polarization through spectroscopy and imaging. A prototype instrument was successfully launched from Ft. Sumner, NM on June 1, 2005. The NCT prototype consists of two 3D position-sensitive high purity germanium strip detectors (GeDs). The compact design and new technologies allow NCT to achieve high efficiencies with excellent spectral resolution and background reduction. The GeDs are custom 15 mm thick cross-strip detectors each with an active area of 54 cm2 and are enclosed in an aluminum cryostat capable of supporting up to 12 detectors. Here is presented a detailed study of approximately 8 hours of background measurements made from 890 g/cm 2 (1265 m) to an average float altitude of 3.0 g/cm2 (40 km), with particular emphasis on float observations. A total of 6 hr 9 min of observation time was acquired at float, while the duration of the ascent portion of the flight included in this study was 2 hr.;The expected contributions to the background are discussed, especially in light of detailed Monte Carlo simulations modeling the entire flight and incorporating complete depth dependent environmental inputs, including 4 cosmic components (protons, photons, electrons, and positrons) and 8 atmospheric components (photons, atmospheric 511 keV emission, neutrons, protons, electrons, positrons, and muons). The results of these investigations include the component makeup of the total background as a function of atmospheric depth, and the contribution of delayed emission due to neutron and proton activation of passive materials. At 1 MeV photons emitted following delayed neutron induced reactions comprise ∼ 15% of the total background at small depths. The observed background due to this component is a result of Compton scattering of 1.779 MeV (29 Al, t1/2 = 2.24 min) photons out of the instrument following neutron capture by 28Al nuclei. The sources of these photons are the substantial amount of aluminum materials surrounding the instrument.;Studies of nuclear line emission require accurate energy calibrations. The NCT prototype consists of two 3D position-sensitive GeDs with 2 x 37 x 37 orthogonal strips for energy measurements. Each strip requires a unique energy calibration. For the electrodes under high voltage (-800 V) the collected charge is dependent on interaction depth, with charge losses in transit presumably due to trapping and/or recombination. The measured electron trapping lengths for the two GeDs are 1264 cm and 930.3 cm, and the measured hole trapping lengths are 1149.2 cm and 847.3 cm, respectively. The total energy loss at 662 keV approaches 0.1%. Additional losses of up to 0.4% occur at the detector surfaces containing the low voltage electrodes.;The positron annihilation line has been observed as a function of atmospheric depth. Simulations suggest contributions to this line from beta+ -decay and pair production in passive materials are negligible at all depths, and that the line fraction due to positron annihilation in passive materials varies approximately linearly with depth: at large depths (> 700 g cm-2) the fraction is > 50% and for depths < 5 g cm-2 the contribution is less than 0.3%. A major result of these studies is that essentially all of the 511 keV line measurements at float are due to atmospheric emissions. At an average float altitude of 2.9 g cm -2 the vertical atmospheric annihilation line flux measured by the prototype Nuclear Compton Telescope is 3.5 x 10-2 (cm2 s sr keV) -1. Images of 511 keV emission at float altitudes are presented.;The Galactic Anticenter Region was observed in nine continuum energy bands from 100 keV to 1.5 MeV. Received fluxes from the Crab Nebula are at the sensitivity threshold of the NCT prototype for this flight. 3 sigma upper limits for the 100--200, 150--450, 200--600, 250--750, 300--900, 350--1050, 400--1200, 450--1350, and 500--1500 keV bands are 8.9, 4.9, 3.2, 5.3, 3.1, 4.0, 3.8, 4.7, and 4.7 x 10-2 cm-2 s-1, respectively.