  The physical processes postulated to explain the high-energy emission
mechanisms of compact astrophysical sources often yield polarised soft gamma
rays (X-rays). PoGOLite is a balloon-borne polarimeter operating in the 25-80
keV energy band. The polarisation of incident photons is reconstructed using
Compton scattering and photoelectric absorption in an array of phoswich
detector cells comprising plastic and BGO scintillators, surrounded by a BGO
side anticoincidence shield. The polarimeter is aligned to observation targets
using a custom attitude control system. The maiden balloon flight is scheduled
for summer 2011 from the Esrange Space Centre with the Crab and Cygnus X-1 as
the primary observational targets.
