Studying the High-Energy Gamma-Ray Sky with Glast

Abstract

Building on the success of the Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) will make a major step in the study of such subjects as blazars, gamma-ray bursts, the search for dark matter, supernova remnants, pulsars, diffuse radiation, and unidentified high-energy sources. The instrument will be built on new and mature detector technologies such as silicon strip detectors, low-power low-noise LSI, and a multilevel data acquisition system. GLAST is in the research and development phase, and one full tower (of 25 total) is now being built in collaborating institutes. The prototype tower will be tested thoroughly at SLAC in the fall of 1999.Comment: 6 pages with 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the COSPAR 98 Symposium E 1.1, postscript file also available at http://glast.gsfc.nasa.gov/COSPAR