The cosmic ray electron synchrotron telescope (CREST) experiment

M. Schubnell, C. Bower, S. Coutu, D. Müller, J. Musser, S. Nutter, G. Tarlé, S. Wakely, A. Yagi

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Galactic cosmic-ray electrons are thought to be shock accelerated in supernova remnants as evident from observations of non-thermal X-rays and TeV gamma rays. Above ∼1 TeV the local electron spectrum is expected to reflect the distribution and abundance of nearby acceleration sites but rates are low and current and past electron detectors, typically flown by high altitude balloons, were limited by their short exposure times and small apertures. CREST, a balloon-borne detector array of 1024 BaF2 crystals will measure the intensity and spectrum of multi-TeV electrons by detecting the synchrotron photons emitted from electrons passing through the Earth's magnetic field. Thus CREST's acceptance is several times its geometric area providing sensitivity up to ∼ 50 TeV. CREST will be flown in a circumpolar orbit on an upcoming Antarctic LDB flight.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages305-308
Number of pages4
StatePublished - 2007
Event30th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2007 - Merida, Yucatan, Mexico
Duration: Jul 3 2007Jul 11 2007

Other

Other30th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2007
Country/TerritoryMexico
CityMerida, Yucatan
Period7/3/077/11/07

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics

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