IX/9 SAS-2 Gamma-Ray Observations (Fichtel+ 1990)
Catalog of SAS-2 Gamma-Ray Observations
Fichtel C.E., Hartman R.C., Hunter S.D., Kniffen D.A., Thompson D.J.,
Oegelman H.B., Oezel M.E.
<Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics, NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center (1990)>
ADC_Keywords: Gamma rays
Mission_Name: SAS-2
Description:
This catalog contains fluxes measured with the high-energy gamma-ray
telescope flown aboard the second NASA Small Astronomy Satellite. The
objects measured included various types of galaxies, QSOs, BL Lacertae
objects, and pulsars. There are separate files for various types of
objects, plus additional files for notes and references. The data
cover about 60 percent of the sky and 89 percent of the galactic plane
for gamma rays having energies >35 MeV. The data reported vary
according to the types of objects. The galaxy file contains object
designation and type, equatorial coordinates (B1950.0), 35-100 MeV
emission limit, >100 MeV emission limit, and luminosity limit. The
pulsar file contains object designation, period, period change
(dP/dt), approximate distance, pulsed flux and luminosity limits, and
notes. There is also a file containing data for miscellaneous other
sources (SNRs, X-ray, and binary X-ray sources, etc.), but this file
is not uniformly formatted because of its inhomogeneous data content.
The primary sources for the data are Bignami et al.
(1979ApJ...232..649B 1979ApJ...232..649B), Fichtel et al. (1975ApJ...198..163F 1975ApJ...198..163F, 1990), and
Oegelman et al. (1976ApJ...209..584O 1976ApJ...209..584O).
File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
galaxy.dat 60 32 Galaxy Data
pulsrdat.dat 50 113 pulsar Data
pulsrnte.dat 78 14 pulsar Notes
othsrc.txt 75 57 *Other Sources
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Note on othsrc.txt:
This file contains data for miscellaneous other sources, such as
supernova remnants, X-ray and binary X-ray, and miscellaneous sources.
The data come from the papers of Fichtel et al. (1975ApJ...198..163F 1975ApJ...198..163F),
Thompson et al. (1977ApJ...213..252T 1977ApJ...213..252T), and Fichtel, Thompson, and Lamb
(1987ApJ...319..362F 1987ApJ...319..362F). The file has not been uniformly formatted
because of the inhomogeneity of the information given; thus, it is a
simple text file with column headings. This file includes also the
notes related to these other sources.
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Introduction:
This catalog summarizes final results for high-energy gamma-ray
observations obtained with the second Small Astronomy Satellite
(SAS-2) flown in an equatorial orbit by NASA from 1972 November
through 1973 June. The data from the SAS-2 gamma-ray experiment cover
about 60 percent of the sky and 89 percent of the galactic plane for
gamma rays with energies >35 MeV.
The experiment (also see Derdeyn et al. 1972) was a picture-type
high-energy (>35 MeV) gamma-ray telescope using a 32-level wire-grid,
magnetic-core spark chamber assembly covered by an anticoincidence
scintillator and triggered by any one of four independent directional
scintillator Cerenkov counter telescopes in anticoincidence with the
outer scintillator. Thin tungsten (W) plates, 0.03 of a radiation
length thick, were interleaved between the spark-chamber modules,
which had an active area of approximately 640 sq cm. The large number
of W plates and spark chambers served the dual purpose of providing
material for the gamma rays to be converted to electron pairs that
could then be clearly identified and from which their arrival
directions could be determined; plus, they provided a means of
ascertaining the energies of the electrons in a pair by measuring
their Coulomb scattering. The full width at half-maximum field of view
(FOV) was 35deg., and within the FOV the average angular uncertainty
for determining the arrival direction of an individual gamma ray
projected on one plane was about 2.6 deg. at 100 MeV and varied with
energy approximately as E**1/2 in the energy range 35-200 MeV. For
descriptions of the instrument calibration, data analysis procedures,
and in-flight performance checks, see Fichtel et al.
(1975ApJ...198..163F 1975ApJ...198..163F) and Hartman et al. (1979ApJ...232..649B 1979ApJ...232..649B).
Byte-by-byte Description of file: galaxy.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 13 A13 --- ID *Object designation
15 A1 --- Type *Object type
18- 23 F6.3 h RAhr *Right ascension B1950
26- 30 F5.1 deg DEdeg *Declination B1950
33- 40 E8.1 keV/cm2/s EmLimit1 *? 35-100 MeV emission limit
43- 50 E8.1 ct/cm2/s EmLimit2 *>100 MeV emission limit in photons/cm2/s
53- 60 E8.1 10-7W LumLimit *? Luminosity limit in units of ergs s-1
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Note on ID:
Common name or abbreviation for the observed object.
Note on Type:
A letter code that designates the following object types:
S = Seyfert galaxy
N = N-type galaxy
B = BL Lacertae object
Q = Quasi-stellar object
E = Sharp emission-line galaxy
O = Other type of galaxy
Note on RAhr, DEdeg:
Equatorial coordinates - Decimal hours and degrees for equinox B1950.0.
Note on EmLimit1, EmLimit2:
Upper limits in the 35-100 MeV and >100 MeV energy ranges, as
determined by using the diffuse gamma-ray emission level based on the
analysis of Fichtel, Simpson, and Thompson (1978ApJ...222..833F 1978ApJ...222..833F).
These are 95% confidence upper limits calculated using the statistical
analysis techniques of Hearn (1969), equations (12) and (13).
Note on LumLimit:
The 95% confidence upper limit to the gamma-ray luminosity for E >100 MeV.
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: pulsrdat.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 7 A7 --- Pulsar *Pulsar designation
10- 15 F6.4 s Period The pulsar period
18- 26 F9.3 10-15s/s Pchange *Period change in units of 10-15 s.s-1
28- 32 F5.2 kpc Dist *Distance
35- 38 F4.1 10-6/cm2/s FxLimit *Pulsed flux limit in units of 10-6/cm2/s
41- 45 F5.2 ct/s LumLimit *Luminosity limit in units of photon/s
48- 50 A3 --- note *Notes and references (see pulsrnte.dat)
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Note on Pulsar:
Standard pulsar coordinate designation (PSR) in hours and minutes of
right ascension and degrees of declination.
Note on Pchange:
Derivative of the period, which is the rate of pulsar spin up or spin
down, in units of 10-5/s
Note on Dist:
The approximate distance of the object, as taken from Taylor
and Manchester (1975AJ.....80..794T 1975AJ.....80..794T).
Note on FxLimit:
The 2-sigma. upper limit of the pulsed gamma-ray flux above 35 MeV in
units of 10-6/sq cm/s. For most of the pulsars, this limit was calculated
based on the highest single peak in the pulsar phase plot (see Oegelman
et al. 1976ApJ...209..584O 1976ApJ...209..584O for details).
Note on LumLimit:
Upper limit to the gamma-ray luminosity, as determined from the upper
limit to the flux and the distance estimates of Taylor and Manchester
(1975AJ.....80..794T 1975AJ.....80..794T). An emission solid angle of 1 steradian was
assumed; the luminosity was calculated as:
L = F*d**2
where F is the observed flux and d is the distance. Note that these
upper limits do not truly reflect actual upper limits in the sense
that neither the distance nor the emission solid angle is accurately
known for any pulsar.
Note on note:
Numerical key(s) to the notes and references given in file
pulsrnte.dat, of the catalog.
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Byte-by-byte Description of file: pulsrnte.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 2 I2 --- Note [1,10] Note number
3 A1 --- --- [.]
5- 78 A74 --- Text Text of note
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History:
The original ADC documentation by Wayne H. Warren (1990) was used to
create this ReadMe file.
The machine-readable galaxies and pulsars data files of the catalog
were initially produced at the Astronomical Data Center from published
papers supplied by Drs. Carl E. Fichtel and David L. Bertsch of the
Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics (LHEA) at the NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center (GSFC), following a meeting with them in April
1988 that was arranged by Dr. J. M. Mead of GSFC. The newly created
files were supplied to Dr. Stanley D. Hunter, also of the LHEA, who
updated and added data to the existing files as well as creating the
files for other sources. Further modifications were made in
consultation with the above-mentioned authors.
This document should be used only to supplement the information
contained in the published papers. In addition to the primary source
reference, those papers include Bigman et al. (1979ApJ...232..649B 1979ApJ...232..649B),
Fichtel et al. (1990), Fichtel et al. (1975ApJ...198..163F 1975ApJ...198..163F), Thompson
(1976ApJ...209..584O 1976ApJ...209..584O), Lamb et al. (1977ApJ...212L..63L 1977ApJ...212L..63L), Thompson et
al. (1977ApJ...213..252T 1977ApJ...213..252T, 1977ApJ...214L..17T 1977ApJ...214L..17T, 1983A&A...127..220T 1983A&A...127..220T),
and Fichtel, Thompson, and Lamb (1987ApJ...319..362F 1987ApJ...319..362F).
* 02-Aug-2004: Catalog changed its ID from VII/130 to IX/9.
References:
Bignami, G. F., Fichtel, C. E., Hartman, R. C., and Thompson, D. J.
1979, Astrophy. J. 232, 649-658. (1979ApJ...232..649B 1979ApJ...232..649B)
Derdeyn, S. M., Ehrmann, C. H., Fichtel, C. E., Kniffen, D. A., and
Ross, R. W. 1972, Nuclear Instrum. & Meth. 98, 557-566.
Fichtel, C. E., Hartman, R. C., Hunter, S. D., Kniffen, D. A., Thompson,
D. J., Oegelman, H. B., Tuemer, T., and Oezel, M. E. 1990, Catalog of
SAS-2 Gamma-Ray Observations, Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics,
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Fichtel, C. E., Hartman, R. C., Kniffen, D. A., Thompson, D. J.,
Bignami, G. F., Oegelman, H., Oezel, M. E., and Tuemer, T. 1975,
Astrophy. J. 198, 163-182. (1975ApJ...198..163F 1975ApJ...198..163F)
Fichtel, C. E., Simpson, G. A., and Thompson, D. J. 1978, Astrophy. J.
222, 833-849. (1978ApJ...222..833F 1978ApJ...222..833F)
Fichtel, C. E., Thompson, D. J., and Lamb, R. C. 1987, Astrophy. J. 319,
362-366. (1987ApJ...319..362F 1987ApJ...319..362F)
Hearn, D. 1969, Nuclear Instrum. & Methods 70, 200-204.
Lamb, R. C., Fichtel, C. E., Hartman, R. C., Kniffen, D. A., and
Thompson, D. J. 1977, Astrophy. J. Let. 212, L63-L66.
(1977ApJ...212L..63L 1977ApJ...212L..63L)
Oegelman, H., Fichtel, C. E., Kniffen, D. A., and Thompson, D. J. 1976,
Astrophy. J. 209, 584-591. (1976ApJ...209..584O 1976ApJ...209..584O)
Taylor, J. H. and Manchester, R. N. 1975, Astron. J. 80, 794-806.
(1975AJ.....80..794T 1975AJ.....80..794T)
Thompson, D. J., Bertsch, D. L., Hartman, R. C., and Hunter, S. D. 1983,
Astron. & Astrophy. 127, 220-223. (1983A&A...127..220T 1983A&A...127..220T)
Thompson, D. J., Fichtel, C. E., Hartman, R. C., Kniffen, D. A., and
Lamb, R. C. 1977a, Astrophy. J. 213, 252-262. (1977ApJ...213..252T 1977ApJ...213..252T)
Thompson, D. J., Fichtel, C. E., Kniffen, D. A., and Oegelman, H. B.,
1977, Astrophy. J. Let., 200, L17-L18. (1977ApJ...214L..17T 1977ApJ...214L..17T)
Thompson, D. J. 1976, Astrophy. J. 209, 584-591.
(End) C.-H. Joseph Lyu & Paul Kuin [Hughes STX/NASA] 27-Jan-1997