There and back again – a Compton polarimeter’s tale

PoGO is a balloon-borne mission for measuring the polarization of hard X-rays (~20-180 keV) from astrophysical sources including the Crab system and Cygnus X-1. The two-tonne payload is launched from the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden on a one million cubic meter balloon. From an altitude of 40 kilometers, targets are acquired using a custom attitude control system and their polarization is measured in a segmented plastic scintillator detector array.

Stratospheric balloon platforms are often used as a stepping stone to develop new techniques for future satellite missions. In this talk, I will describe the payload and review the history of the mission, leading up to the successful flight of 2016. Lessons learned will be presented, along with some of the scientific results for the Crab and Cygnus X-1.​

Coffee and cake will be available for the first 30 attendees at 15:00, warmly welcome!