The ACT vision mission study simulation effort

Authors

Cornelia B. Wunderer, University of California - BerkeleyFollow
R M. Kippen, Los Alamos National LaboratoryFollow
Peter F. Bloser, University of New HampshireFollow
S E. Boggs, University of California - Berkeley
Mark L. McConnell, University of New Hampshire - Main CampusFollow
M Harris, Centre d’Etude Spatiale des RayonnementsFollow
A Hoover, Los Alamos National Laboratory
A V. Kliemenko, Los Alamos National Laboratory
E I. Novikova, Naval Research Laboratory
U Oberlack, Rice UniversityFollow
S Stunner, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
D Tournear, Los Alamos National LaboratoryFollow
A Zoglauer, University of California - BerkeleyFollow
G Weidenspointer, Centre d’Etude Spatiale des RayonnementsFollow

Abstract

The Advanced Compton Telescope (ACT) has been selected by NASA for a one-year “vision mission” study. The study’s main goal is to determine feasible instrument configurations to achieve ACT’s sensitivity requirements, and to give recommendations for technology development. Space-based instruments operating in the energy range of nuclear lines are subject to complex backgrounds generated by cosmic rays, earth albedo radiations, trapped particles, and diffuse gamma rays; typically measurements are significantly background-dominated. Therefore accurate, detailed simulations of the background induced in different ACT configurations, and exploration of event selection and reconstruction techniques for reducing these backgrounds, are crucial to determining the capabilities of a given instrument configuration. The ACT simulation team has assembled a complete suite of tools that allows the generation of particle backgrounds for a given orbit, their propagation through any instrument and spacecraft geometry – including delayed photon emission from instrument activation – as well as the selection and reconstruction of Compton events in the given detectors. We describe here the scope of the ACT simulation effort and the suite of tools used.

Department

Space Science Center

Publication Date

10-2006

Journal Title

New Astronomy Reviews

Publisher

Elsevier

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/j.newar.2006.06.064

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Cornelia B. Wunderer, R.M. Kippen, P.F. Bloser, S.E. Boggs, M.L. McConnell, M. Harris, A. Hoover, A.V. Klimenko, E.I. Novikova, U. Oberlack, S. Sturner, D. Tournear, G. Weidenspointner, A. Zoglauer, The ACT vision mission study simulation effort, New Astronomy Reviews, Volume 50, Issues 7–8, October 2006, Pages 608-612.

Rights

Copyright © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.