Exploring the MeV sky with a combined coded mask and Compton telescope: the Galactic Explorer with a Coded aperture mask Compton telescope (GECCO). Issue 7 (1st July 2022)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Exploring the MeV sky with a combined coded mask and Compton telescope: the Galactic Explorer with a Coded aperture mask Compton telescope (GECCO). Issue 7 (1st July 2022)
- Main Title:
- Exploring the MeV sky with a combined coded mask and Compton telescope: the Galactic Explorer with a Coded aperture mask Compton telescope (GECCO)
- Authors:
- Orlando, Elena
Bottacini, Eugenio
Moiseev, A.A.
Bodaghee, Arash
Collmar, Werner
Ensslin, Torsten
Moskalenko, Igor V.
Negro, Michela
Profumo, Stefano
Digel, Seth W.
Thompson, David J.
Baring, Matthew G.
Bolotnikov, Aleksey
Cannady, Nicholas
Carini, Gabriella A.
Eberle, Vincent
Grenier, Isabelle A.
Harding, Alice K.
Hartmann, Dieter
Herrmann, Sven
Kerr, Matthew
Krivonos, Roman
Laurent, Philippe
Longo, Francesco
Morselli, Aldo
Philips, Bernard
Sasaki, Makoto
Shawhan, Peter
Shy, Daniel
Skinner, Gerry
Smith, Lucas D.
Stecker, Floyd W.
Strong, Andrew
Sturner, Steven
Tomsick, John A.
Wadiasingh, Zorawar
Woolf, Richard S.
Yates, Eric
Ziock, Klaus-Peter
Zoglauer, Andreas
… (more) - Abstract:
- Abstract: The sky at MeV energies is currently poorly explored. Here we present an innovative mission concept that builds upon the heritage of past and current missions improving the sensitivity and, very importantly, the angular resolution. This consists in combining a Compton telescope and a coded-mask telescope. We delineate the motivation for such a concept and we define the scientific goals for such a mission. The Galactic Explorer with a Coded Aperture Mask Compton Telescope (GECCO) is a novel concept for a next-generation telescope covering hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray energies. The potential and importance of this approach that bridges the observational gap in the MeV energy range are presented. With the unprecedented angular resolution of the coded mask telescope combined with the sensitive Compton telescope, a mission such as GECCO can disentangle the discrete sources from the truly diffuse emission. Individual Galactic and extragalactic sources are detected. This also allows to understand the gamma-ray Galactic center excess and the Fermi Bubbles, and to trace the low-energy cosmic rays, and their propagation in the Galaxy. Nuclear and annihilation lines are spatially and spectrally resolved from the continuum emission and from sources, addressing the role of low-energy cosmic rays in star formation and galaxy evolution, the origin of the 511 keV positron line, fundamental physics, and the chemical enrichment in the Galaxy. Such an instrument also detectsAbstract: The sky at MeV energies is currently poorly explored. Here we present an innovative mission concept that builds upon the heritage of past and current missions improving the sensitivity and, very importantly, the angular resolution. This consists in combining a Compton telescope and a coded-mask telescope. We delineate the motivation for such a concept and we define the scientific goals for such a mission. The Galactic Explorer with a Coded Aperture Mask Compton Telescope (GECCO) is a novel concept for a next-generation telescope covering hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray energies. The potential and importance of this approach that bridges the observational gap in the MeV energy range are presented. With the unprecedented angular resolution of the coded mask telescope combined with the sensitive Compton telescope, a mission such as GECCO can disentangle the discrete sources from the truly diffuse emission. Individual Galactic and extragalactic sources are detected. This also allows to understand the gamma-ray Galactic center excess and the Fermi Bubbles, and to trace the low-energy cosmic rays, and their propagation in the Galaxy. Nuclear and annihilation lines are spatially and spectrally resolved from the continuum emission and from sources, addressing the role of low-energy cosmic rays in star formation and galaxy evolution, the origin of the 511 keV positron line, fundamental physics, and the chemical enrichment in the Galaxy. Such an instrument also detects explosive transient gamma-ray sources, which, in turn, enables identifying and studying the astrophysical objects that produce gravitational waves and neutrinos in a multi-messenger context. By looking at a poorly explored energy band it also allows discoveries of new astrophysical phenomena. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics. Volume 2022:Issue 7(2022)
- Journal:
- Journal of cosmology and astroparticle physics
- Issue:
- Volume 2022:Issue 7(2022)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 2022, Issue 7 (2022)
- Year:
- 2022
- Volume:
- 2022
- Issue:
- 7
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2022-2022-0007-0000
- Page Start:
- Page End:
- Publication Date:
- 2022-07-01
- Subjects:
- gamma ray experiments -- X-ray telescopes
Cosmology -- Periodicals
Astrophysics -- Periodicals
523.0105 - Journal URLs:
- http://iopscience.iop.org/1475-7516 ↗
http://ioppublishing.org/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1088/1475-7516/2022/07/036 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1475-7516
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 4965.430450
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