0000000000246188
AUTHOR
James M. Ryan
Development and calibration of the tracking Compton/Pair telescope MEGA
Abstract We describe the development and tests of the prototype for a new telescope for Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy (MEGA) in the energy band 0.4–50 MeV. As a successor to COMPTEL and EGRET (at low energies), MEGA aims to improve the sensitivity for astronomical sources by at least an order of magnitude. It could thus fill the severe sensitivity gap between scheduled or operating hard-X-ray and high-energy gamma-ray missions and open the way for a future Advanced Compton Telescope. MEGA records and images γ-rays by completely tracking Compton and Pair creation events in a stack of double-sided Si-strip track detectors surrounded by a pixelated CsI calorimeter. A scaled down prototype …
The MEGA Project for Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy
The Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy (MEGA) telescope concept will soon be proposed as a MIDEX mission. This mission would enable a sensitive all-sky survey of the medium-energy gamma-ray sky (0.4–50 MeV) and bridge the huge sensitivity gap between the COMPTEL and OSSE experiments on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the visionary Advanced Compton Telescope (ACT) mission. The scientific goals include compiling a much larger catalog of sources in this energy range, performing far deeper searches for supernovae, better measuring the galactic continuum and line emissions, and identifying the components of the cosmic diffuse gamma-ray emission. MEGA records and images gamma rays by complet…
MEGA: a medium-energy gamma-ray astronomy mission concept
The Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy (MEGA) telescope concept will soon be proposed as a MIDEX mission. This mission would enable a sensitive all-sky survey of the medium-energy gamma-ray sky (0.4 - 50 MeV) and bridge the huge sensitivity gap between the COMPTEL and OSSE experiments on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the SPI and IBIS instruments on INTEGRAL, and the visionary Advanced Compton Telescope (ACT) mission. The scientific goals include, among other things, compiling a much larger catalog of sources in this energy range, performing far deeper searches for supernovae, better measuring the galactic continuum and line emissions, and identifying the components of the cosmic diffuse…