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E. Aprile (Columbia University), LXeGRIT Collaboration
LXeGRIT is a balloon-borne Compton telescope employing a large volume liquid xenon time projection chamber (LXeTPC) as the central \gamma-ray detector. It is designed to image \gamma-rays in the energy range of ~0.2--20 MeV, with an angular resolution of about 3 degrees (1 sigma) at 2 MeV, within a field-of-view (FOV) of about 1~sr. The detector's energy and three-dimensional spatial resolution as measured during pre-flight calibration experiments, are \Delta E \mathrmlxe/E=8.8% \: \sqrt{1~MeV /E} and <~1mm RMS, respectively. The detection efficiency for Compton events varies between 1.5 % and 4 % depending on energy and event selection. We describe the instrument as flown on May 7, 1999 and review its overall performance at balloon altitude. The launch occurred at 13:26:54 UT from Ft.~Sumner, New Mexico and the flight was terminated about 9 hours later. Preliminary results from this and another, longer duration flight, planned for September 2000 will be presented. Support for the LXeGRIT project is provided by NASA High Energy Astrophysics Division SR&T program under grant NAG5-5108.
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