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 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.
Authors
- M. B. Jadhav (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5225-2803)
- Richard S. Woolf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4859-1711)
- Daniel P. Violette (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5943-4730)
- Kavic Kumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2068-6949)
- Nicolas Striebig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1156-654X)
- A. Falcone (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5068-7344)
- H. Tajima (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1721-7252)
- I. Perić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0408-4742)
- Lucas Parker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8224-859X)
- R. Caputo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9280-836X)
- Carolyn Kierans (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6677-914X)
- Richard Leys (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8841-3405)
- Janeth Valverde (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8090-6528)
- Nicholas Kirschner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6716-4128)
- Matthew T. Kerr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0893-4073)
- J. S. Perkins (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9608-4023)
- Daniel Shy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3699-265X)
- A. L. Steinhebel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4080-2919)
- J. L. Racusin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4744-9898)
- Andreas Zoglauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9067-3150)
- N. J. Miller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2245-1027)
- Zachary Metzler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1236-8510)
- J. Metcalfe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5454-3017)
- Adrien Laviron (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1521-7950)
- Bernard F. Phlips
- Y. Suda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2692-5891)
- M. Sasaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1093-9655)
- N. Cannady (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2916-6955)
- Julie McEnery
- John Mitchell
- Yasushi Fukazawa
- Kenneth F. Segal
Institutions
- Hiroshima University (JP)
- Argonne National Laboratory (US)
- United States Naval Research Laboratory (US)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- George Washington University (US)
- SpaceX (United States) (US)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- University of Maryland, Baltimore County (US)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2024-08-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3017619
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.98
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Goddard Space Flight Center
- Astrophysics Division