ComPair-2: A Next Generation Medium Energy Gamma-ray Telescope Prototype

Many questions posed in the Astro2020 Decadal survey in both the New Messengers and New Physics and the Cosmic Ecosystems science themes require a gamma-ray mission with capabilities exceeding those of existing (e.g. Fermi, Swift) and planned (e.g. COSI) observatories. ComPair, the Compton Pair tele...

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Published in:arXiv.org 2024-12
Main Authors: Caputo, Regina, Kierans, Carolyn, Cannady, Nicholas, Falcone, Abe, Fukazawa, Yasushi, Jadhav, Manoj, Kerr, Matthew, Kirschner, Nicholas, Kumar, Kavic, Laviron, Adrien, Leys, Richard, McEnery, Julie, Metcalfe, Jessica, Metzler, Zachary, Miller, Nathan, Mitchell, John, Parker, Lucas, Peric, Ivan, Perkins, Jeremy, Phlips, Bernard, Racusin, Judith, Sasaki, Makoto, Segal, Kenneth N, Shy, Daniel, Steinhebel, Amanda L, Striebig, Nicolas, Suda, Yusuke, Tajima, Hiroyasu, Valverde, Janeth, Violette, Daniel P, Woolf, Richard, Zoglauer, Andreas
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Active pixel sensors
Balloon flight
Gamma ray telescopes
Gamma rays
Observatories
Photomultiplier tubes
Prototypes
Silicon
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Summary:Many questions posed in the Astro2020 Decadal survey in both the New Messengers and New Physics and the Cosmic Ecosystems science themes require a gamma-ray mission with capabilities exceeding those of existing (e.g. Fermi, Swift) and planned (e.g. COSI) observatories. ComPair, the Compton Pair telescope, is a prototype of such a next-generation gamma-ray mission. It had its inaugural balloon flight from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico in August 2023. To continue the goals of the ComPair project to develop technologies that will enable a future gamma-ray mission, the next generation of ComPair (ComPair-2) will be upgraded to increase the sensitivity and low-energy transient capabilities of the instrument. These advancements are enabled by AstroPix, a silicon monolithic active pixel sensor, in the tracker and custom dual-gain silicon photomultipliers and front-end electronics in the calorimeter. This effort builds on design work for the All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory eXplorer (AMEGO-X) concept that was submitted the 2021 MIDEX Announcement of Opportunity. Here we describe the ComPair-2 prototype design and integration and testing plans to advance the readiness level of these novel technologies.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2412.02562