Study of solar flares and gamma-ray bursts using low-cost stratospheric balloon borne experiments

SIKDAR, RUPNATH; Chakrabarti, Sandip K.; Bhowmick, Debashis

doi:10.1007/s10686-023-09899-4

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The data also allow us to compute the spectra of such sources. Earlier, we presented some results on the investigation of solar activities, such as the solar flares (Chakrabarti et al 2017;Sikdar et al 2023b), the solar winds, etc. In this paper, we present some important scientific results from our missions, such as the variation of secondary CRs as a function of altitude in the stratosphere, the detection of some astronomical X-ray sources using a unique methodology, and the analysis of the spectra of these sources.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The details about the data quality and the extraction process were written and explained in Bhowmick et al (2019). Using our balloon data, we already showed the CRs to be anticorrelated with solar activity (Sarkar et al 2017;Sikdar et al 2023a) during solar cycle 24 and source detection method and timing properties of Crab pulsar (Sikdar et al 2023c), and we measured the spectrum of solar flares and a gamma-ray burst (Chakrabarti et al 2014;Sikdar et al 2023b). Details about data from the balloon missions are presented in Chakrabarti et al (2017).…”

Section: Limitations Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Indian Centre for Space Physics (ICSP) regularly launches light-weight balloons in its Dignity series of missions to study secondary cosmic rays and strong celestial X-ray sources (Chakrabarti et al 2011(Chakrabarti et al , 2014(Chakrabarti et al , 2015(Chakrabarti et al , 2017Sarkar et al 2020;Sikdar et al 2023b). Till now, one hundred and fourteen missions have been flown to the stratosphere at an altitude of 35-42 km.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Study of Secondary Cosmic Rays and Astronomical X-Ray Sources using Small Stratospheric Balloons

Sikdar,

Chakrabarti,

Bhowmick

2024

Res. Astron. Astrophys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The X-ray sources of the universe are the extraterrestrial in nature which emit X-ray photons. The closest strong X-ray source is the Sun, which is followed by various compact sources such as neutron stars, black holes, the Crab pulsar, etc. In this paper, we analyze the data received from several low-cost lightweight meteorological balloon-borne missions launched by the Indian Centre for Space Physics. Our main interest is to study the variation of the vertical intensity of secondary cosmic rays, the detection of strong X-ray sources, and their spectra in the energy band of ∼ 10 − 80 keV during the complete flights. Due to the lack of an onboard pointing system, low exposure time, achieving a maximum altitude of only ∼ 42 km, and freely rotating the payload about its axis, we modeled the background radiation flux for the X-ray detector using physical assumptions. We also present the source detection method, observation of the pulsation of the Crab (∼ 33 Hz), and spectra of some sources such as the quiet Sun and the Crab pulsar.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limitations Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Study of Secondary Cosmic Rays and Astronomical X-Ray Sources using Small Stratospheric Balloons

Sikdar,

Chakrabarti,

Bhowmick

2024

Res. Astron. Astrophys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Measurement of background radiations and spectra of X-ray sources using low-cost stratospheric balloon missions

Sikdar,

Chakrabarti,

Bhowmick

2024

Astroparticle Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Study of X-ray spectral and timing properties of astronomical sources using low-cost stratospheric balloons

Sikdar,

Chakrabarti,

Bhowmick

2023

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Astronomical objects, such as the Sun, accreting matter around black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs, etc. are known to emit X-rays and gamma-rays. Some of these sources, such as highly magnetized neutron stars, show periodic pulsations. Even accreting matter around black holes and neutron stars shows timing properties including quasi-periodic oscillations. In this paper, we use the data of low-cost, lightweight, high-altitude (∼42 km) small, stratospheric balloon-borne missions of the Indian Centre for Space Physics. We measure the intensity of the secondary cosmic rays, the radiation fluxes, and the spectra of persistent X-ray sources or transient events such as solar flares and gamma-ray bursts, apart from routine weather parameters. In this study, we present the source detection method without an onboard pointing system and the temporal and spectral behaviour of the quiet Sun. We also analyse the data containing Crab in the field of view to find the pulsation of the Crab pulsar. During the analysis of the source detection and spectrum of the solar X-rays, we calculate the detector’s background radiation (mainly secondary cosmic rays) using physical assumptions and also take care of the atmospheric absorption effects. Finally, we show the source detection processes for the strong sources such as the Sun, Crab, and Cyg X-1, obtaining the quiet Sun’s spectrum. Among the interesting timing properties, we present the result for the Crab pulsar and find the well-known ∼33 Hz pulsations whenever our instrument pointed to the Crab.

show abstract

Study of solar flares and gamma-ray bursts using low-cost stratospheric balloon borne experiments

Cited by 3 publications

References 18 publications

Study of Secondary Cosmic Rays and Astronomical X-Ray Sources using Small Stratospheric Balloons

Study of Secondary Cosmic Rays and Astronomical X-Ray Sources using Small Stratospheric Balloons

Measurement of background radiations and spectra of X-ray sources using low-cost stratospheric balloon missions

Study of X-ray spectral and timing properties of astronomical sources using low-cost stratospheric balloons

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About