Concept of a small satellite for sub-MeV and MeV all sky survey: the CAST mission

Kazuhiro Nakazawa; Tadayuki Takahashi; Yuto Ichinohe; Shin'ichiro Takeda; Hiroyasu Tajima; Tuneyoshi Kamae; Motohide Kokubun; Takeshi Takashima; Makoto Tashiro; Toru Tamagawa; Yukikatsu Terada; Masaharu Nomachi; Yasushi Fukazawa; Kazuo Makishima; Tsunefumi Mizuno; Takefumi Mitani; Tetsuo Yoshimitsu; Shin Watanabe

doi:10.1117/12.926164

17 September 2012 Concept of a small satellite for sub-MeV and MeV all sky survey: the CAST mission

Kazuhiro Nakazawa, Tadayuki Takahashi, Yuto Ichinohe, Shin'ichiro Takeda, Hiroyasu Tajima, Tuneyoshi Kamae, Motohide Kokubun, Takeshi Takashima, Makoto Tashiro, Toru Tamagawa, Yukikatsu Terada, Masaharu Nomachi, Yasushi Fukazawa, Kazuo Makishima, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Takefumi Mitani, Tetsuo Yoshimitsu, Shin Watanabe

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8443, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray; 84430E (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926164
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Abstract

MeV and sub-MeV energy band from ~200 keV to ~2 MeV contains rich information of high-energy phenomena in the universe. The CAST (Compton Telescope for Astro and Solar Terrestrial) mission is planned to be launched at the end of 2010s, and aims at providing all-sky map in this energy-band for the first time. It is made of a semiconductor Compton telescope utilizing Si as a scatterer and CdTe as an absorber. CAST provides allsky sub-MeV polarization map for the first time, as well. The Compton telescope technology is based on the design used in the Soft Gamma-ray Detector (SGD) onboard ASTRO-H, characterized by its tightly stacked semiconductor layers to obtain high Compton reconstruction efficiency. The CAST mission is currently planned as a candidate for the small scientific satellite series in ISAS/JAXA, weighting about 500 kg in total. Scalable detector design enables us to consider other options as well. Scientific outcome of CAST is wide. It will provide new information from high-energy sources, such as AGN and/or its jets, supernova remnants, magnetors, blackhole and neutron-star binaries and others. Polarization map will tell us about activities of jets and reflections in these sources, as well. In addition, CAST will simultaneously observe the Sun, and depending on its attitude, the Earth.

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Kazuhiro Nakazawa, Tadayuki Takahashi, Yuto Ichinohe, Shin'ichiro Takeda, Hiroyasu Tajima, Tuneyoshi Kamae, Motohide Kokubun, Takeshi Takashima, Makoto Tashiro, Toru Tamagawa, Yukikatsu Terada, Masaharu Nomachi, Yasushi Fukazawa, Kazuo Makishima, Tsunefumi Mizuno, Takefumi Mitani, Tetsuo Yoshimitsu, and Shin Watanabe "Concept of a small satellite for sub-MeV and MeV all sky survey: the CAST mission", Proc. SPIE 8443, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 84430E (17 September 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.926164

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