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RESEARCH PRODUCT
The FIGARO II experiment: a general outline of the mission and the principal scientific results
Enrico CostaGiorgio MattEnrico MassaroP. Von BallmoosJ. L. MasnouGaetano GerardiE. BarouchLivio ScarsiM. SalvatiG. AgnettaJ. C. ChristyL. PerretBruno SaccoP. FrabelR. ComteM. NielP. MandrouB. AgrinierTeresa MineoB. ParlierG. RouaixR. Di Raffaelesubject
PhysicsPulsarObservatoryCrab PulsarAstrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical PhenomenaGalactic CenterAstrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for AstrophysicsAstronomyAstrophysicsGamma-ray astronomyVelaGalaxyPulse (physics)description
The FIGARO II (French Italian Gamma-Ray Observatory) experiment has been launched successfully three times: in July 1986 from Milo (Trapani), in November 1988 from Charleville (Australia) and in July 1990 again from Milo. In the first flight the observational program was limited to the Crab pulsar PSR0531+21 only because of a telemetry failure: the high sensitivity of FIGARO II allowed an accurate study of the pulse shape as well as a phase-resolved spectroscopy. It was also possible to evaluate the dispersion measure of the Crab pulsar at the flight date from the time delay between gamma-ray and radio pulses. The major results of the second flight were a stringent upper limit to the low-energy gamma-ray flux from PSR 0833-45 (Vela pulsar)—well below the detection claimed by the UCR group —and the observation of a strong emission in the 0.511 MeV annihilation line from the inner region of our Galaxy. The data acquired in the third flight are still under analysis, but preliminary results suggest changes in the shape of the pulse profile.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992-09-01 | Il Nuovo Cimento C |