X-ray Astronomy with CCDs: Calibration of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer and Observations of Rotation-powered Pulsars
| dc.creator | Pivovaroff, Michael | |
| dc.date | 2000-05-23 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T06:31:54Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T06:31:54Z | |
| dc.description | (ABRIDGED) This dissertation concerns the use of CCDs for for X-ray astronomy. Part I of this thesis focuses on the calibration of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS), one of the two primary focal plane instruments on the Chandra X-ray Observatory. I begin by presenting a series of measurements made using undispersed synchrotron radiation. I analyzed the results of these experiments to extract parameters necessary to model the absolute detection efficiency of CCDs used as reference standards for ACIS characterization. I also discuss a novel "mesh" technique I pioneered to non-destructively measure the sub-pixel structure of CCDs, including the channel stops and gates. Guided by the results of the mesh experiments, I performed additional measurements to constrain recombination effects in the channel stops. Part II of this thesis concerns the X-ray properties of rotation- powered (radio) pulsars. High energy observations serve as a powerful diagnostic of the energetics and emission mechanisms of neutron stars. I analyze ASCA and ROSAT observations of three young pulsars which are particularly well-suited for addressing these issues. I also present observations of the rotation-powered pulsar with the highest known magnetic field, and describe how the results relate to anomalous X-ray pulsars, another type of neutron star. Finally, I analyze Chandra observations of the supernova remnant Cas A. These data fully demonstrate the capabilities of ACIS and reveal a previously unknown point source at the center of the remnant. | |
| dc.description | PhD Thesis, MIT, 2000. PS and PDF versions available at: http://space.mit.edu/ACIS/mjp_publications/thesis.html | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0005462 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0005462 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/98748 | |
| dc.subject | Astrophysics | |
| dc.title | X-ray Astronomy with CCDs: Calibration of the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer and Observations of Rotation-powered Pulsars | |
| dc.type | text |