The 2023 balloon flight of the ComPair instrument

Lucas D. Smith; Nicholas Cannady; Regina Caputo; Carolyn Kierans; Nicholas Kirschner; Iker Liceaga-Indart; Julie McEnery; Zachary Metzler; A. A. Moiseev; Lucas Parker; Jeremy Perkins; Makoto Sasaki; Adam J. Schoenwald; Daniel Shy; Janeth Valverde; Sambid Wasti; Richard Woolf; Aleksey Bolotnikov; Thomas J. Caligiure; A. Wilder Crosier; Jack Fried; Priyarshini Ghosh; Sean Griffin; J. Eric Grove; Elizabeth Hays; Emily Kong; John Mitchell; Bernard Phlips; Clio Sleator; D. J. Thompson; Eric Wulf; Anna Zajczyk

doi:10.1117/12.3020463

21 August 2024 The 2023 balloon flight of the ComPair instrument

Lucas D. Smith, Nicholas Cannady, Regina Caputo, Carolyn Kierans, Nicholas Kirschner, Iker Liceaga-Indart, Julie McEnery, Zachary Metzler, A. A. Moiseev, Lucas Parker, Jeremy Perkins, Makoto Sasaki, Adam J. Schoenwald, Daniel Shy, Janeth Valverde, Sambid Wasti, Richard Woolf, Aleksey Bolotnikov, Thomas J. Caligiure, A. Wilder Crosier, Jack Fried, Priyarshini Ghosh, Sean Griffin, J. Eric Grove, Elizabeth Hays, Emily Kong, John Mitchell, Bernard Phlips, Clio Sleator, D. J. Thompson, Eric Wulf, Anna Zajczyk

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13093, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 130937Z (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3020463
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2024, Yokohama, Japan

Conference Poster

Abstract

The ComPair balloon instrument is a prototype gamma-ray telescope that aims to further develop technology for observing the gamma-ray sky in the MeV regime. ComPair combines four detector subsystems to enable parallel Compton scattering and pair-production detection, critical for observing in this energy range. This includes a 10 layer double-sided silicon strip detector tracker, a virtual Frisch grid low energy CZT calorimeter, a high energy CsI calorimeter, and a plastic scintillator anti-coincidence detector. The inaugural balloon flight successfully launched from the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, in late August 2023, lasting approximately 6.5 hours in duration. In this proceeding, we discuss the development of the ComPair balloon payload, the performance during flight, and early results.

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Lucas D. Smith, Nicholas Cannady, Regina Caputo, Carolyn Kierans, Nicholas Kirschner, Iker Liceaga-Indart, Julie McEnery, Zachary Metzler, A. A. Moiseev, Lucas Parker, Jeremy Perkins, Makoto Sasaki, Adam J. Schoenwald, Daniel Shy, Janeth Valverde, Sambid Wasti, Richard Woolf, Aleksey Bolotnikov, Thomas J. Caligiure, A. Wilder Crosier, Jack Fried, Priyarshini Ghosh, Sean Griffin, J. Eric Grove, Elizabeth Hays, Emily Kong, John Mitchell, Bernard Phlips, Clio Sleator, D. J. Thompson, Eric Wulf, and Anna Zajczyk "The 2023 balloon flight of the ComPair instrument", Proc. SPIE 13093, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2024: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 130937Z (21 August 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3020463

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