Related papers: The Compton Spectrometer and Imager Project for Me…
A next-generation medium-energy gamma-ray telescope targeting the MeV range would address open questions in astrophysics regarding how extreme conditions accelerate cosmic-ray particles, produce relativistic jet outflows, and more. One…
One of the major goals of research for laser-plasma accelerators is the realization of compact sources of femtosecond X-rays. In particular, using the modest electron energies obtained with existing laser systems, Compton scattering a…
Indirect searches for Dark Matter (DM) particles with mass in the MeV -- GeV scale have received significant attention lately. Pair-annihilations of such DM particles in the Galaxy can give rise to (at the same time) MeV to GeV…
In order to understand the effects of a space radiation environment on cross-strip germanium detectors, we investigated the effects of high-energy proton damage on a COSI detector and the capabilities of high-temperature annealing in…
Designed as a high-sensitivity gamma-ray observatory, the Fermi Large Area Telescope is also an electron detector with a large acceptance exceeding 2m^2 sr at 300 GeV. Building on the gamma-ray analysis, we have developed an efficient…
As part of a study funded by NASA Headquarters, we are developing a Probe-class mission concept called the Cosmic Evolution Through UV Spectroscopy (CETUS). CETUS includes a 1.5-m aperture diameter telescope with a large field-of-view…
X-ray polarization measurement of cosmic sources provides two unique parameters namely degree and angle of polarization which can probe the emission mechanism and geometry at close vicinity of the compact objects. Specifically, the hard…
The Galactic background radiation near the Scutum Arm was observed simultaneously with RXTE and OSSE in order to determine the spectral shape and the origin of the emission in the hard X-ray/soft gamma-ray band. The spectrum in the 3 keV to…
All-optical Compton sources are innovative, compact devices to produce high energy femtosecond X-rays. Here we present results on a single-pulse scheme that uses a plasma mirror to reflect the drive beam of a laser plasma accelerator and to…
The 511 keV gamma-ray emission from the galactic center region may fully or partially originate from the annihilation of positrons from dark matter particles with electrons from the interstellar medium. Alternatively, the positrons could be…
The physics basis for an electron-beam based Compton scattering (ECOS) x-ray source is investigated for single-shot experiments at major high energy density facilities such as the Omega Laser Facility, National Ignition Facility, and Z…
The Fermi Large Area Telescope has provided the measurement of the high energy (20 GeV to 1 TeV) cosmic ray electrons and positrons spectrum with unprecedented accuracy. This measurement represents a unique probe for studying the origin and…
Compact symmetric objects (CSOs) are thought to be short-lived radio sources with two lobes of emission that are separated by less than a kpc in projection. However, studies of such systems at high redshift is challenging due to the limited…
An important source of background in direct searches for low-mass dark matter particles are the energy deposits by small-angle scattering of environmental $\gamma$ rays. We report detailed measurements of low-energy spectra from Compton…
Direct photometric measurements of the cosmic optical background (COB) provide an important point of comparison to both other measurement methodologies and models of cosmic structure formation, and permit a cosmic consistency test with the…
This paper discusses the latest progress in the development of GRAPE (Gamma-Ray Polarimeter Experiment), a hard X-ray Compton Polarimeter. The purpose of GRAPE is to measure the polarization of hard X-rays in the 50-300 keV energy range. We…
MOMOS, the Multi-Object MKID Optical Spectrometer, is a proposed visible wavelength spectrometer that uses MKIDs (Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors) targeting an initial resolving power of 3500. With their modest wavelength-resolving…
Although the MeV gamma-ray band is a promising energy-band window in astrophysics, the current situation of MeV gamma-ray astronomy significantly lags behind those of the other energy bands in angular resolution and sensitivity. An…
Observation of the H2O megamaser galaxy IC 2560 with the Chandra Observatory reveals a complex spectrum composed of soft X-ray emission due to multi-temperature thermal plasma, and a hard continuum with strong emission lines. The continuum…
Entering a new era of high-energy gamma-ray experiments, there is an exciting quest for the first detection of gamma-ray emission from clusters of galaxies. To complement these observational efforts, we use high-resolution simulations of a…