Search Publications
Evaluation of the performance of a CdZnTe-based soft γ -ray detector for CubeSat payloads
Parker, Quentin A.; Ritter, Andreas; Pal, Partha Sarathi +4 more
The low-energy γ -ray (0.1-30 MeV) sky has been relatively unexplored since the decommissioning of the COMPTEL instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory (CGRO) satellite in 2000. However, the study of this part of the energy spectrum (the "MeV gap") is crucial for addressing numerous unresolved questions in high-energy and multi-messenger as…
Time domain astronomy with the THESEUS satellite
Mukai, K.; Campana, S.; Della Valle, M. +74 more
THESEUS is a medium size space mission of the European Space Agency, currently under evaluation for a possible launch in 2032. Its main objectives are to investigate the early Universe through the observation of gamma-ray bursts and to study the gravitational waves electromagnetic counterparts and neutrino events. On the other hand, its instrument…
Wide band, tunable gamma-ray lenses
Lund, Niels
A new concept for an astronomical telescope in the MeV energy band is presented. The concept builds on Bragg diffraction in crystals, which has been discussed in the past, but so far a design with good sensitivity over a wide energy range has seemed out of reach. In this paper we point out that if we find ways to adjust, in orbit, the individual t…
MVN experiment - All sky monitor for measuring cosmic X-ray background of the universe onboard the ISS
Lutovinov, A. A.; Molkov, S. V.; Pavlinsky, M. N. +6 more
The article describes the MVN experiment (MVN - Monitor Vsego Neba in Russian transliteration) - All Sky Monitor onboard the ISS, which will start in 2021. The main scientific task of the experiment is to measure the cosmic X-ray background in energy range of 6 - 70 keV with unprecedented high absolute and spectral accuracy (about 1%). To reach th…
Background for a gamma-ray satellite on a low-Earth orbit
Hernanz, M.; Cumani, P.; Kiener, J. +2 more
The different background components in a low-Earth orbit have been modeled in the 10 keV to 100 GeV energy range. The model is based on data from previous instruments and it considers both primary and secondary particles, charged particles, neutrons and photons. The necessary corrections to consider the geomagnetic cutoff are applied to calculate …
A robotic pipeline for fast GRB followup with the Las Cumbrés observatory network
Cucchiara, A.; Steele, I. A.; Marongiu, M. +9 more
In the era of multi-messenger astronomy the exploration of the early emission from transients is key for understanding the encoded physics. At the same time, current generation networks of fully-robotic telescopes provide new opportunities in terms of fast followup and sky coverage. This work describes our pipeline designed for robotic optical fol…
Designing large pixelated CdTe detection planes for hard X-ray transients detection
Bouchet, Laurent; Mate, Sujay; Bajat, Armelle +10 more
In this paper, we discuss the need for very large detection planes for the detection of hard X-ray transients in the multi-messenger era, started with the quasi-simultaneous detection of GRB 170817A by Fermi/GBM and INTEGRAL/SPI and the gravitational waves event GW 170817, detected by the LVC collaboration. After pointing that current and future i…
The e-ASTROGAM mission. Exploring the extreme Universe with gamma rays in the MeV - GeV range
Ghisellini, G.; Hanlon, L.; Mereghetti, S. +71 more
e-ASTROGAM (`enhanced ASTROGAM') is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV - the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV, albeit w…
GRIPS - Gamma-Ray Imaging, Polarimetry and Spectroscopy
Fransson, Claes; Leibundgut, Bruno; Wilms, Jörn +65 more
We propose to perform a continuously scanning all-sky survey from 200 keV to 80 MeV achieving a sensitivity which is better by a factor of 40 or more compared to the previous missions in this energy range (COMPTEL, INTEGRAL; see Fig. 1). These gamma-ray observations will be complemented by observations in the soft X-ray and (near-)infrared region …
AVES: A high performance computer cluster array for the INTEGRAL satellite scientific data analysis
Ubertini, Pietro; Federici, Memmo; Martino, Bruno Luigi
In this paper we describe a new computing system array, designed, built and now used at the Space Astrophysics and Planetary Institute (IAPS) in Rome, Italy, for the INTEGRAL Space Observatory scientific data analysis. This new system has become necessary in order to reduce the processing time of the INTEGRAL data accumulated during the more than …