Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

The e-ASTROGAM mission: Exploring the extreme Universe with gamma rays in the MeV – GeV range

  • The e-ASTROGAM Collaboration
  • INFN
  • Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (IAPS)
  • and Physics University of Udine
  • Instituto Superior Técnico
  • Centre national de la recherche scientifique
  • University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
  • Institut für Physik
  • Johannes Gutenberg University
  • Université Paris-Diderot
  • School of Physics
  • University College Dublin
  • University of Geneva
  • IRAP/CNRS
  • INAF Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, Bologna
  • Science and Research Directorate
  • ICE (CSIC-IEEC)
  • Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC)
  • Technical University of Denmark
  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
  • Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • University of Padova
  • Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • Clemson University
  • INFN Sezione di Perugia
  • c/o DESY
  • INFN Sezione di Trieste
  • University of Urbino Carlo Bo
  • Ioffe Institute
  • Department of Astronomy
  • Yale University
  • Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte
  • Max Planck Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik
  • Technische Universität München
  • Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg and Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
  • INAF
  • Naval Research Laboratory
  • Université Paris-Sud
  • Institute for Cosmic Ray Research
  • University of Tokyo
  • Laboratoire de Probabilités et Modèles Aléatoires
  • Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, CNRS and CEA
  • Universitaet Wuerzburg
  • University of Würzburg
  • University of Bergen
  • University of São Paulo
  • INFN Sezione di Bari

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

216 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

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 with rapidly degrading angular resolution, for the tracker, and to 30 keV for calorimetric detection. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. Thanks to its performance in the MeV-GeV domain, substantially improving its predecessors, e-ASTROGAM will open a new window on the non-thermal Universe, making pioneering observations of the most powerful Galactic and extragalactic sources, elucidating the nature of their relativistic outflows and their effects on the surroundings. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, e-ASTROGAM will determine the origin of key isotopes fundamental for the understanding of supernova explosion and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The mission will provide unique data of significant interest to a broad astronomical community, complementary to powerful observatories such as LIGO-Virgo-GEO600-KAGRA, SKA, ALMA, E-ELT, TMT, LSST, JWST, Athena, CTA, IceCube, KM3NeT, and the promise of eLISA.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)25-82
Number of pages58
JournalExperimental Astronomy
Volume44
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2017

Keywords

  • Active Galactic Nuclei
  • Compton and Pair Creation Telescope
  • Cosmic Antimatter
  • Cosmic Rays
  • Counterparts of gravitational waves
  • Dark Matter
  • Early Universe
  • Fermi
  • Gamma-Ray Bursts
  • High-Energy Astrophysics
  • High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy
  • Jets
  • Multiwavelength Observations of the Universe
  • Nuclear Astrophysics
  • Nucleosynthesis
  • Outflows
  • Supernovae

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The e-ASTROGAM mission: Exploring the extreme Universe with gamma rays in the MeV – GeV range'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this