Megaelectronvolt astronomy with HERMES: spectroscopy, polarimetry, and synergies with fast Cherenkov arrays

• Published in: Journal of Physics: Conference Series
• Main Authors: Krassilchtchikov, A M, Bykov, A M, Eremin, V K, Kholupenko, E E, Nesterenok, A V, Vasilyev, G I
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: IOP Publishing 2019
• Subjects: taiga
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1400/2/022031; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1400/2/022031/pdf; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1400/2/022031

Abstract Sensitive observations of energetic space phenomena in the 0.3 – 10 MeV range are needed to investigate a number of hot issues of modern astrophysics and cosmology. With the advanced technology of thick double sided silicon strip detectors (Si-DSSDs) it is possible to construct a space-borne gamma-ray telescope with sensitivity 30-100 times better than that of CGRO/COMPTEL. Synergies of MeV range observations from space with GeV-TeV range spectra to be obtained with future fast and sensitive imaging atmospheric Cherenkov arrays (CTA, TAIGA-IACT, ALEGRO) would allow one to reveal complex mechanisms of energy conversion in transient gamma-ray objects, in particular, sources of gamma-ray bursts. In this short note we briefly outline most demanding objectives of 0.3 – 10 MeV range astronomy and present a schematic view of HERMES gamma-ray spectrometer being developed at the Ioffe Institute.