Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter instrument on AstroSat

Large Area X-ray Proportional Counter (LAXPC) is one of the major AstroSat payloads. The instrument will provide high time-resolution X-ray observations in 3-80 keV energy band with moderate energy resolution. A cluster of three co-aligned identical LAXPC detectors is used in AstroSat to provide large collection area of more than 6000 sq. cm. The large detection volume (15 cm depth) filled with xenon gas at similar to 2 atm pressure, results in detection efficiency greater than 50% above 30 keV. With its broad energy range and fine-time resolution (10 mu s), LAXPC instrument is well suited for timing and spectral studies of a wide variety of known and transient X-ray sources in the sky. We have done extensive calibration of all LAXPC detectors using radioactive sources as well as GEANT4 simulation of LAXPC detectors. We describe in brief some of the results obtained during the payload verification phase along with LAXPC capabilities.