e-ASTROGAM: a satellite to explore the gamma-ray emission in the MeV region
by
Alessandro De Angelis(INFN Padova)
→
Portugal
Seminar room
Seminar room
Description
e-ASTROGAM is a gamma-ray observatory proposed as a medium-size mission for the ESA science program. It is dedicated to the observation of the Universe with unprecedented sensitivity in the energy range 0.3 – 100 MeV extending up to the GeV, together with a ground-breaking polarization capability. In this energy window, a variety of phenomena and sources await their discovery and many foundational questions can be answered. The e-ASTROGAM core science is focused on (1) the mysteries of the Galactic centre and inner Galaxy, including the black hole activity, the Fermi Bubbles, the origin of the Galactic positrons, and dark matter signatures in a new energy window; (2) nucleosynthesis in young supernovae and propagation of heavy elements in our Galaxy and beyond; (3) activity from extreme particle accelerators, including disk-jet transitions in active galactic nuclei and the origin of the extragalactic gamma-ray background. e-ASTROGAM will be complementary to a variety of ground and space observatories ranging from radio, optical, X-ray and TeV energies, as well as to neutrino and gravitational wave detectors. The e-ASTROGAM payload consists of a large Silicon telescope for the detection of gamma-rays through Compton interaction and pair production, and of a calorimeter; its proposal involves 250 scientists from Ireland, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, United States.