Extra-Solar Astrophysics with the High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager
(HESSI)
D.M.Smith, R.P.Lin, J.McTiernan, A.S. Slassi-Sennou, K.Hurley
Abstract
In the summer of the year 2000, a NASA Small Explorer satellite, the
High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI), will be launched. It
will consist of nine large, coaxial germanium detectors viewing the
Sun through a set of Rotation Modulation Collimators and will
accomplish high-resolution imaging and spectroscopy of solar flares in
the x-ray and gamma-ray bands. This large, unshielded volume of
germanium will also produce a number of important extra-solar
astrophysical measurements (or upper limits), including the line shape
of the Galactic 1809 keV emission from 26Al, prompt positron
annihilation radiation from novae, high-resolution spectra of
gamma-ray bursts, pulse-phased spectra of accreting and
spin-powered pulsars, etc. We will discuss a number of these
topics and give the estimated sensitivities for HESSI.
File translated from TEX by TTH, version 2.32.
On 23 Jul 1999, 15:32.