The Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission |
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Authors: | L E Orwig K J Frost B R Dennis |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, 20771 Greenbelt, Md., U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | The primary scientific objectives of the Hard X-Ray Burst Spectrometer (HXRBS) to be flown on the Solar Maximum Mission are as follows: (1) To determine the nature of the mechanisms which accelerate electrons to 20–100 keV in the first stage of a solar flare and to > 1 MeV in the second stage of many flares; and (2) to characterize the spatial and temporal relation between electron acceleration, storage and energy loss throughout a solar flare.Measurements of the spectrum of solar X-rays will be made in the energy range from 20 to 260 keV using an actively-shielded CsI(Na) scintillator with a thickness of 0.635 cm and a sensitive area of 71 cm2. Continuous measurements with a time resolution of 0.128 s will be made of the 15-channel energy-loss spectrum of events in this scintillator in anticoincidence with events in the CsI(Na) shield. Counting-rate data with a time resolution as short as 1 ms will also be available from a limited period each orbit using a 32K-word circulating memory triggered by a high event rate.In the first year after launch, it is expected that approximately 1000 flares will be observed above the instrument sensitivity threshold, which corresponds to a 20–200 keV X-ray flux of 2 × 10–1 photons (cm2 s)–1 lasting for at least one second. |
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