Conveners
Future gamma-ray satellite missions
- Marco Ajello (Clemson University)
COSI, the Compton Spectrometer and Imager, is a balloon-borne gamma-ray telescope (0.2-5 MeV) utilizing high-purity Germanium double-sided strip detectors. In spring 2016, COSI had a very successful 46-day balloon flight from Wanaka, New Zealand, utilizing NASA’s new super-pressure balloon platform, taking COSI 1.5 times around the world. During the flight, COSI observed gamma-ray bursts,...
We have demonstrated, for the first time, that the polarisation of gamma rays in the 1-75 MeV regime can be measured using a novel detection technique, namely tracking the gamma-ray conversion pairs using a gaseous TPC. HARPO (the hermetic argon polarimeter) is, to
date, the only instrument to have successfully carried out this measurement. Having demonstrated that a TPC can be used to detect...
The MeV domain is one of the most underexplored windows on the Universe. From astrophysical jets and extreme physics of compact objects to a large population of unidentified objects, fundamental astrophysics questions can be addressed by a mission that opens a window into the MeV range. AMEGO is a wide-field gamma-ray telescope with sensitivity from ~200 keV to >10 GeV. AMEGO provides three...
Since the end of the COMPTEL mission, almost 20 years ago, there haven’t been any new space telescopes able to improve the observations in the electromagnetic energy region above 1 MeV. This energy band, where Compton scattering is the dominating interaction with matter, is of fundamental importance for the understanding of the emission mechanisms in several astrophysical source...
With gamma-ray burst (GRB) observations by Swift, Fermi, and HETE-2 and their follow-up observations at other wavelengths, we have made substantial progress in the understanding of their progenitors, physical properties of ultra-relativistic jets, and the emission mechanisms. However, our understanding short GRBs in particular, remains incomplete. New observational probes such as detections of...
The gamma-ray energy range from several hundred keV to a hundred MeV has remained largely unexplored since the observations by instruments on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (1991- 2000) and on INTEGRAL (since 2002). This energy range is particularly challenging because it is firmly in the Compton-dominated regime where the interaction cross section is minimized. Accurate measurements are...
We present BurstCube, a novel CubeSat that will detect and localize Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs).
BurstCube will detect long GRBs, attributed to the collapse of massive stars, short GRBs (sGRBs), resulting from binary neutron star mergers, as well as other gamma-ray transients in the energy range 10-1000 keV. sGRBs are of particular interest because they are predicted to be the counterparts of...
The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory (AMEGO) is a probe-class mission in consideration for the 2020 decadal review designed to operate at energies from $\sim$ 200 keV to > 10 GeV.
Operating a detector in this energy regime is challenging due to the crossover in the interaction cross-section for Compton scattering and pair production.
AMEGO is made of four major subsystems: a...
The era of precision cosmology has revealed that ~80% of the matter in the universe is dark matter. Two leading candidates, motivated by both particle and astrophysics, are Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and Weakly Interacting Sub-eV Particles (WISPs) like axions and axionlike particles. Both WIMPs and WISPs have distinct gamma-ray signatures. Thus far, there are no conclusive...
The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory (AMEGO) Probe mission concept is uniquely suited to address open questions in Gamma-ray Burst (GRB) science including the search for counterparts to gravitational-wave events. AMEGO is a wide field of view instrument (~60 deg radius) with a broad energy range (~200 keV to >10 GeV) and excellent continuum sensitivity. The sensitivity improvement...
We describe the MERger-event Gamma-Ray (MERGR) Telescope intended for deployment by ~2021. MERGR will cover from 20 keV to 2 MeV with a wide field of view (6 sr) using nineteen gamma-ray detectors arranged on a section of a sphere. The telescope will work as a standalone system or as part of a network of sensors, to increase by ~50% the current sky coverage to detect short Gamma-Ray Burst...
