The Compton Spectrometer and Imager
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
9-27-2024
Abstract
The Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) is a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) satellite mission in development with a planned launch in 2027. COSI is a wide-field gamma-ray telescope designed to survey the entire sky at 0.2-5 MeV. It provides imaging, spectroscopy, and polarimetry of astrophysical sources, and its germanium detectors provide excellent energy resolution for emission line measurements. Science goals for COSI include studies of 0.511 MeV emission from antimatter annihilation in the Galaxy, mapping radioactive elements from nucleosynthesis, determining emission mechanisms and source geometries with polarization measurements, and detecting and localizing multimessenger sources. The instantaneous field of view for the germanium detectors is >25% of the sky, and they are surrounded on the sides and bottom by active shields, providing background rejection as well as allowing for detection of gamma-ray bursts and other gamma-ray flares over most of the sky. In the following, we provide an overview of the COSI mission, including the science, the technical design, and the project status.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Proceedings of Science
Recommended Citation
Tomsick, J., Boggs, S., Zoglauer, A., Hartmann, D., Ajello, M., Burns, E., Fryer, C., Karwin, C., Kierans, C., Lowell, A., Malzac, J., Roberts, J., Saint-Hilaire, P., Shih, A., Siegert, T., Sleator, C., Takahashi, T., Tavecchio, F., Wulf, E., Beechert, J., Gulick, H., Joens, A., Lazar, H., Neights, E., Oliveros, J., Matsumoto, S., Melia, T., Yoneda, H., Amman, M., Bal, D., von Ballmoos, P., Bates, H., & Böttcher, M. (2024). The Compton Spectrometer and Imager. Proceedings of Science, 444 Retrieved from https://repository.lsu.edu/physics_astronomy_pubs/6628