The MEGA project
Abstract
We describe the development of a new telescope for Medium Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy (MEGA) for the energy band 0.4–50 MeV. As a successor to COMPTEL and EGRET (low energies), MEGA aims to improve the sensitivity for astronomical sources by at least an order of magnitude. It could thus fill the severe sensitivity gap between scheduled or operating hard-X-ray and high-energy γ-ray missions and open the way for a future Advanced Compton Telescope. MEGA records and images γ-rays by completely tracking Compton and Pair creation events in a stack of double sided Si-strip track detectors surrounded by a pixelated CsI calorimeter. A scaled down prototype has been built and calibrations using radioactive sources and exposures to an accelerator generated γ-ray beam were performed in 2003. A balloon flight is planned for 2004.
Department
Space Science Center
Publication Date
2004
Journal Title
New Astronomy Reviews
Publisher
Elsevier
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1016/j.newar.2003.11.056
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
G Kanbach, R Andritschke, F Schopper, V Schönfelder, A Zoglauer, P.F Bloser, S.D Hunter, J.A Ryan, M McConnell, V Reglero, G DiCocco, J Knödlseder, The MEGA project, New Astronomy Reviews, Volume 48, Issues 1–4, February 2004, Pages 275-280, ISSN 1387-6473, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.newar.2003.11.056.
Rights
Copyright © 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.