In-orbit performance of HE onboard Insight-HXMT in the first 5 years

TL;DR

This paper reviews the in-orbit performance of the High-Energy X-ray telescope (HE) onboard Insight-HXMT over its first five years, demonstrating stable operation and providing calibration insights for continued mission success.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive assessment of HE's in-orbit performance, including stability and calibration needs, after five years of operation in space.

Findings

HE/NaI(Tl) performance remained stable over 5 years

HE/CsI(Na) gain increased, requiring regular calibration

HE continues to operate healthily with no significant deviations

Abstract

Purpose: The High-Energy X-ray telescope (HE), one of the three main payloads of the \textit{Insight}-HXMT mission, is composed of eighteen NaI(Tl)/CsI(Na) phoswich detectors, where NaI(Tl) serves as the primary detector covering 20--250\,keV, and CsI(Na) is used as an active shield detector to suppress the background of NaI(Tl) and also serves as an all-sky gamma-ray burst monitor covering 0.2--3\,MeV. In this paper, we review the in-orbit performance of HE in the first 5 years since \textit{Insight}-HXMT was launched on June 15, 2017. Methods: The major performances we concern include the gain and energy resolution of NaI(Tl) and CsI(Na) detectors, the performance of pulse-shape-discriminator (PSD) and system dead-time. In this work, we investigate these performances mainly using the data of blank-sky observations and the data when the telescope in earth occultation. Results: The overall performance of HE/NaI(Tl) is very stable in the first 5 years, whereas the gain of HE/CsI(Na) shows a continuously increasing trend and should be calibrated regularly. Conclusion: In general, HE is still in good health and well-calibrated status after five-year's operation. The in-orbit performance of HE has no significant deviation from expectation. HE is expected to be in operation healthily for another several years of extended mission life.