6533b7dbfe1ef96bd1270960

RESEARCH PRODUCT

The MEGA Project for Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy

Ulisse BravarAndreas ZoglauerEric A. WulfStanley D. HunterJ. P. CravensJ. G. StacyW. S. PaciesasMark L. McconnellPeter F. BloserG. Di CoccoJames M. RyanMarco AjelloMichael CherryRobert AndritschkeGottfried KanbachR. M. KippenRichard MillerT. G. GuzikJ. P. WefelVictor RegleroJohn R. MacriBernard F. PhlipsAllen D. ZychTom VestrandDieter H. Hartmann

subject

PhysicsCOSMIC cancer databaseAstrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical PhenomenaCompton telescopemedia_common.quotation_subjectAstrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for AstrophysicsGamma rayAstronomyAstronomy and AstrophysicsAstrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic AstrophysicsGamma-ray astronomyAstrophysicslaw.inventionTelescopeSupernovaSpace and Planetary ScienceObservatorySkylawAstrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysicsmedia_common

description

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 completely tracking Compton and pair creation events in a stack of double-sided Si strip detectors surrounded by a pixellated CsI calorimeter. A prototype instrument has been developed and calibrated in the laboratory and at a gamma-ray beam facility. We present calibration results from the prototype and describe the proposed satellite mission.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2006-12-31Chinese Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics
https://doi.org/10.1088/1009-9271/6/s1/53