3-11 July 2007
Merida, Mexico
Mexico/General timezone
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Contribution Poster

Merida, Mexico - Regency (Hyatt)

GLAST Large Area Telescope: the Mission and the Science

Speakers

  • Mr. JOHANN COHEN-TANUGI

Primary authors

Abstract content

The Gamma ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is the next-generation high energy gamma-ray astronomy mission, scheduled for launch in Fall 2007. The observatory comprises two instruments. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) will survey the sky in the energy range from 20 MeV to >300 GeV, while the GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM) will monitor gamma-ray bursts and other transients in the 10 keV to 25 MeV range. The unprecedentedly-large etendue (>2 m2 sr) and an earth-avoiding observing mode will permit the LAT to survey the entire sky many times per day and within its first few weeks the LAT will collect more GeV photons than have been detected by all other gamma-ray missions. This capability together with superior angular resolution and short dead time per event will permit the LAT to make great advances in high-energy astrophysics. The scope of LAT science will be extraordinarily broad, extending from lunar albedo to gamma-ray bursts at large redshift. All GLAST data will be publicly available after the first year of observation, and the NASA Research Announcement for the first cycle of guest investigator proposals has just passed. With many of its science investigations benefiting greatly from coordinated, multiwavelength observations, the GLAST LAT team welcomes cooperative efforts from observers in all wavebands to maximize scientific return. I will summarize the current status of the observatory and instrument performance, as well as review the mission's broad science reach.

If this papers is presented for a collaboration, please specify the collaboration

GLAST LAT Collaboration

Reference

Proceedings of the 30th International Cosmic Ray Conference; Rogelio Caballero, Juan Carlos D'Olivo, Gustavo Medina-Tanco, Lukas Nellen, Federico A. Sánchez, José F. Valdés-Galicia (eds.); Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico, 2008; Vol. 3 (OG part 2), pages 1575-1578