Developing the future of gamma-ray astrophysics with monolithic silicon pixels

This paper explores the potential of AstroPix, a project to develop Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) pixels for the next generation of space-based high-energy astrophysics experiments. Multimessenger astrophysics is a rapidly developing field whose upcoming missions need support from new detector technology such as AstroPix. ATLASPix, a monolithic silicon detector optimized for the ATLAS particle detector at CERN, is the beginning of the larger AstroPix project. Energy resolution is a driving parameter in the reconstruction of gamma-ray events, and therefore the characterization of ATLASPix energy resolution is the focus of this paper. The intrinsic energy resolution of the detector exceeded our baseline requirements of <10% at 60 keV. The digital output of ATLASPix results in energy resolutions insufficient to advance gamma-ray astronomy. However, the results from the intrinsic energy resolution indicate the digital capability of the detector can be redesigned, and the next generation of pixels for the larger AstroPix project have already been constructed. Iterations of AstroPix-type pixels are an exciting new technology candidate to support new space-based missions

The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory eXplorer (AMEGO-X) Mission Concept

The All-sky Medium Energy Gamma-ray Observatory eXplorer (AMEGO-X) is designed to identify and characterize gamma rays from extreme explosions and accelerators. The main science themes include: supermassive black holes and their connections to neutrinos and cosmic rays; binary neutron star mergers and the relativistic jets they produce; cosmic ray particle acceleration sources including Galactic supernovae; and continuous monitoring of other astrophysical events and sources over the full sky in this important energy range. AMEGO-X will probe the medium energy gamma-ray band using a single instrument with sensitivity up to an order of magnitude greater than previous telescopes in the energy range 100 keV to 1 GeV that can be only realized in space. During its three-year baseline mission, AMEGO-X will observe nearly the entire sky every two orbits, building up a sensitive all-sky map of gamma-ray sources and emission. AMEGO-X was submitted in the recent 2021 NASA MIDEX Announcement of Opportunity.Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, Published Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and System

The SuperCam Instrument Suite on the Mars 2020 Rover: Science Objectives and Mast-Unit Description

On the NASA 2020 rover mission to Jezero crater, the remote determination of the texture, mineralogy and chemistry of rocks is essential to quickly and thoroughly characterize an area and to optimize the selection of samples for return to Earth. As part of the Perseverance payload, SuperCam is a suite of five techniques that provide critical and complementary observations via Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Time-Resolved Raman and Luminescence (TRR/L), visible and near-infrared spectroscopy (VISIR), high-resolution color imaging (RMI), and acoustic recording (MIC). SuperCam operates at remote distances, primarily 2-7 m, while providing data at sub-mm to mm scales. We report on SuperCam's science objectives in the context of the Mars 2020 mission goals and ways the different techniques can address these questions. The instrument is made up of three separate subsystems: the Mast Unit is designed and built in France; the Body Unit is provided by the United States; the calibration target holder is contributed by Spain, and the targets themselves by the entire science team. This publication focuses on the design, development, and tests of the Mast Unit; companion papers describe the other units. The goal of this work is to provide an understanding of the technical choices made, the constraints that were imposed, and ultimately the validated performance of the flight model as it leaves Earth, and it will serve as the foundation for Mars operations and future processing of the data.In France was provided by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). Human resources were provided in part by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and universities. Funding was provided in the US by NASA's Mars Exploration Program. Some funding of data analyses at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was provided by laboratory-directed research and development funds

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

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The seismic OPTIMISM experiment

International audienceThe study of the deep interior of Mars suffers from the very limited amount of data available, particularly seismological data. The objective of the OPTIMISM seismic experiment, lost with the failure of the Mars 96 mission, was to perform a seismic reconnaissance of Mars, to constrain the level of martian seismic noise and its level of seismicity. The seismometer was expected to operate during one year, with a sensitivity one hundred times higher than the Viking seismometer.Observation of relatively frequent low magnitude marsquakes, as well as a few large magnitude quakes might then be probably achieved. The OPTIMISM experiment might then, as a seismic ‘path-finder’, open a new field in Mars exploration and a new era in our present knowledge of the interior of Mars. A seismic experiment on Mars, especially performed by a network of stations, remains as the necessary experiment for the determination of the internal structure of the planet

The seismic OPTIMISM experiment

International audienceThe study of the deep interior of Mars suffers from the very limited amount of data available, particularly seismological data. The objective of the OPTIMISM seismic experiment, lost with the failure of the Mars 96 mission, was to perform a seismic reconnaissance of Mars, to constrain the level of martian seismic noise and its level of seismicity. The seismometer was expected to operate during one year, with a sensitivity one hundred times higher than the Viking seismometer.Observation of relatively frequent low magnitude marsquakes, as well as a few large magnitude quakes might then be probably achieved. The OPTIMISM experiment might then, as a seismic ‘path-finder’, open a new field in Mars exploration and a new era in our present knowledge of the interior of Mars. A seismic experiment on Mars, especially performed by a network of stations, remains as the necessary experiment for the determination of the internal structure of the planet

The NetLander very broad band seismometer

International audienceThe interior of Mars is today poorly known, in contrast to the Earth interior and, to a lesser extent, to the Moon interior, for which seismic data have been used for the determination of the interior structure. This is one of the strongest facts motivating the deployment on Mars of a network of very broad band seismometers, in the framework of the 2007 CNES-NASA joint mission. These seismometers will be carried by the Netlanders, a set of 4 landers developed by a European consortium, and are expected to land in mid-2008. Despite a low mass, the seismometers will have a sensitivity comparable to the present Very Broad Band Earth sensors, i.e. better than the past Apollo Lunar seismometers. They will record the full range of seismic and gravity signals, from the expected quakes induced by the thermoelastic cooling of the lithosphere, to the possible permanent excitation of the normal modes and tidal gravity perturbations. All these seismic signals will be able to constrain the structure of Mars' mantle and its discontinuities, as well as the state and size of the Martian core, shortly after for the centennial of the discovery of the Earth core by Oldham (Quart. J. Geol. Soc. 62(1906) 456–475)