ASTENA: an innovative mission concept for broadband high-energy astrophysics

Enrico Virgilli; Filippo Frontera; Lisa Ferro; Miguel Fernandes Moita; Leo Cavazzini; Piero Rosati; Cristiano Guidorzi; Mauro Orlandini; Claudio Labanti; Ezio Caroli; Natalia Auricchio; John B. Stephen; Stefano del Sordo; Lorenzo Amati

doi:10.1117/12.2630080

31 August 2022 ASTENA: an innovative mission concept for broadband high-energy astrophysics

Enrico Virgilli, Filippo Frontera, Lisa Ferro, Miguel Fernandes Moita, Leo Cavazzini, Piero Rosati, Cristiano Guidorzi, Mauro Orlandini, Claudio Labanti, Ezio Caroli, Natalia Auricchio, John B. Stephen, Stefano del Sordo, Lorenzo Amati

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12181, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 121812H (2022) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630080
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2022, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Abstract

Hard-x/soft gamma-rays are probes of the most powerful phenomena in the universe. Unlike soft x-ray astrophysics, this band has benefited less from the technological advancement due to the difficulty to absorb this radiation and to the lack of focusing instrumentation. For these reasons the quest for innovative soft gamma-ray instrumentation is pressing and their effective recognition and realization are urgent. In this context, and in the framework of the AHEAD project, funded by the European Commission, the ASTENA experiment was proposed as an innovative mission concept to face some of the most debated questions in hard x-/gamma-ray astronomy. This effort will be done through the use of instruments based on groundbreaking technologies, capable of providing unprecedented broad energy passband in a wide field of view, high sensitivity observations and, at the same time, sub-arcminute localization of gamma-ray sources and polarimetric measurement. In this paper we describe the instruments on board ASTENA, the technologies involved, the performances achievable with their exploitation and their level of readiness.

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Enrico Virgilli, Filippo Frontera, Lisa Ferro, Miguel Fernandes Moita, Leo Cavazzini, Piero Rosati, Cristiano Guidorzi, Mauro Orlandini, Claudio Labanti, Ezio Caroli, Natalia Auricchio, John B. Stephen, Stefano del Sordo, and Lorenzo Amati "ASTENA: an innovative mission concept for broadband high-energy astrophysics", Proc. SPIE 12181, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 121812H (31 August 2022); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2630080

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