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arXiv · 2412.02562

ComPair-2: A Next Generation Medium Energy Gamma-ray Telescope Prototype

Regina Caputo·Carolyn Kierans·Nicholas Cannady·Abe Falcone·Yasushi Fukazawa·Manoj Jadhav·Matthew Kerr·Nicholas Kirschner·Kavic Kumar·Adrien Laviron·Richard Leys·Iker Liceaga-Indart·Julie McEnery·Jessica Metcalfe·Zachary Metzler·Nathan Miller·John Mitchell·Lucas Parker·Ivan Peric·Jeremy Perkins·Bernard Phlips·Judith Racusin·Makoto Sasaki·Kenneth N. Segal·Daniel Shy·Amanda L. Steinhebel·Nicolas Striebig·Yusuke Suda·Hiroyasu Tajima·Janeth Valverde·Daniel P. Violette·Richard Woolf·Andreas Zoglauer
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Abstract

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.

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Regina Caputo, Carolyn Kierans, Nicholas Cannady, Abe Falcone, Yasushi Fukazawa, Manoj Jadhav, Matthew Kerr, Nicholas Kirschner, Kavic Kumar, Adrien Laviron, Richard Leys, Iker Liceaga-Indart, Julie McEnery, Jessica Metcalfe, Zachary Metzler, Nathan Miller, John Mitchell, Lucas Parker, Ivan Peric, Jeremy Perkins, Bernard Phlips, Judith Racusin, Makoto Sasaki, Kenneth N. Segal, Daniel Shy, Amanda L. Steinhebel, Nicolas Striebig, Yusuke Suda, Hiroyasu Tajima, Janeth Valverde, Daniel P. Violette, Richard Woolf, Andreas Zoglauer. 2024-12-03. ComPair-2: A Next Generation Medium Energy Gamma-ray Telescope Prototype. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3017619

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