gamma-ray astronomy @ SSL

- research projects -

Nuclear Compton Telescope (NCT) NCT is a balloon-borne soft gamma-ray (0.2-15 MeV) telescope designed to study astrophysical sources of nuclear line emission and gamma-ray polarization. It employs a modern Compton telescope design, imaging gamma-rays through their scattering history in novel 3D tracking detectors. Implemented as a balloon payload, this telescope will perform sensitive observations of positron annihilation, nuclear decays, black holes, neutron stars, and AGN.

Advanced Compton Telescope (ACT) Our group is leading NASA's study for an Advanced Compton Telescope (ACT). ACT is a mission in the Cycles of Matter and Energy section of NASA's January 2003 Roadmap for the Structure and Evolution of the Universe theme. An Advanced Compton Telescope is explicitly called for in the Roadmap for future progress in gamma-ray astronomy. The mission was described as the primary tool to "uncover how supernovae and other stellar explosions work to create the elements". The goal of the official concept study (May 2004 - December 2005) was to sharpen our focus on the specific questions likely to be of most interest ca. 2013 and to identify key technologies and instrument configurations that can best address those questions. We are now focused on optimizing the mission design, as well as developing the intrument and analysis technologies crucial for this mission.

International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (INTEGRAL) The International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory launched into orbit in October 2002, utilizing high spectral resolution detectors developed in part by our group at Berkeley. INTEGRAL is making major advances in our view and understanding of the gamma-ray universe, and we are involved in a number of diverse observations including the study of positron production in supernovae, measuring the equation of state for neutron stars, searching for polarization in cosmic gamma-ray bursts, and searching for signatures of quantum gravity near the Planck mass scale.

Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) RHESSI is a solar observatory designed to understand particle acceleration and explosive energy release in the magnetized plasmas at the Sun, processes which also occur at many other sites in the universe. However, the RHESSI detectors are open to the whole sky, observing many transient phenomena common the to turbulent high energy universe. Our science projects with RHESSI include broad-band gamma-ray burst spectroscopy, novel polarization studies of solar flares and gamma-ray bursts, serendipitous observations of flaring magentars, high resolution spectroscopy of X-ray binaries in outbursts, and searching for quantum gravity signatures.