Extending fermi LAT discoveries: Compton-pair production space telescope (ComPair) for MeV gamma-ray astronomy

  • Alexander Moiseev
  • , Elizabeth Ferrara
  • , Roopesh Ojha
  • , Andrew Smith
  • , Elizabeth Hays
  • , John W. Mitchell
  • , Julie McEnery
  • , Jeremy Perkins
  • , Judith Racusin
  • , David Thompson
  • , James Buckley
  • , Regina Caputo
  • , Marco Ajello
  • , Dieter H. Hartmann

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The gamma-ray energy range from a few hundred keV to a few hundred MeV has remained largely unexplored, mainly due to the challenging nature of the measurements, since the pioneering, but limited, observations by COMPTEL on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (1991- 2000). This energy range is a transition region between thermal and nonthermal processes, and accurate measurements are critical for answering a broad range of astrophysical questions. We are developing a MIDEX-scale wide-aperture discovery mission, ComPair (Compton-Pair Production Space Telescope), to investigate the energy range from 200 keV to > 500 MeV with high energy and angular resolution and with sensitivity approaching a factor of 100 better than COMPTEL. This instrument will be equally capable to detect both Compton-scattering events at lower energy and pair-production events at higher energy. ComPair will build on the heritage of successful space missions including Fermi LAT, AGILE, AMS and PAMELA, and will utilize well-developed space-qualified detector technologies including Si-strip and CdZnTe-strip detectors, heavy inorganic scintillators, and plastic scintillators.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1035
JournalProceedings of Science
Volume30-July-2015
StatePublished - 2015
Event34th International Cosmic Ray Conference, ICRC 2015 - The Hague, Netherlands
Duration: Jul 30 2015Aug 6 2015

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