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PCA ○´｜Definition｜1st｜20260713142334-00-⌔

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer - Wikipedia#Proportional_Counter_Array_(PCA)

Proportional Counter Array (PCA)

The Proportional Counter Array (PCA) provides approximately 6,500 cm${}^2$ (1,010 sq in) of X-ray detector area, in the energy range 2 to 60 keV, for the study of temporal/spectral effects in the X-ray emission from galactic and extragalactic sources.¹ The PCA was an array of five proportional counters with a total collecting area of 6,500 cm${}^2$ (1,010 sq in). The instrumental properties were:²

• Energy range: 2–60 keV;
• Energy resolution: <18% at 6 keV;
• Time resolution: 1 μs
• Spatial resolution: collimator with 1° (FWHM);
• Detectors: 5 proportional counters;
• Collecting area: 6,500 cm${}^2$ (1,010 sq in);
• Layers: 1 propane veto; 3 Xenon, each split into two; 1 Xenon veto layer;
• Sensitivity: 0.1-mCrab;
• Background: 90-mCrab.

The PCA is being built by the Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics (LHEA) at Goddard Space Flight Center. The principal investigator was Jean Swank.²

Printed 2026-07-13.

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Footnotes

1. “Experiment: Proportional Counter Array (PCA)”. NASA. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. ↩

2. “Proportional Counter Array (PCA)”. NASA. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2018. ↩ ↩²

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