Galactic Cosmic-Ray Elemental Spectra and a Search for Microquasar Signatures with SuperTIGER Flight Data

SuperTIGER (Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder) is a large-area, balloon-borne cosmic-ray experiment designed to measure the galactic cosmic-ray abundances of elements from Z=10 (Ne) to Z=56 (Ba) at energies from ~0.8 GeV/nuc to ~10 GeV/nuc, with the primary goal of measuring relative abundances of ultra-heavy elements above Z=30. SuperTIGER flew for a record 55 days over Antarctica in 2012-2013 and for a second flight of over 32 days in 2019-2020. Although the primary goal is measuring ultra-heavy cosmic-ray relative abundances, the SuperTIGER data analysis uses measurements of abundant elements at Z<30 for precise charge calibration extended to the ultra-heavy elements. In this presentation, we will report progress on analysis to obtain energy spectra for these Z<30 elements, from Ne to Cu, detailing energy calibration and corrections for interaction and energy losses in the instrument and atmosphere. Additionally, we will address how the sensitivity and extended exposure of SuperTIGER over two flights makes possible a search for microquasar signatures in energy spectra, as suggested by Heinz and Sunyaev (2002), and we will report results of this search.