NASA Insignia
Astrophysical Extremes and Life Cycles of the Elements: Opportunities from the MeV Gamma-ray Sky

AMEGO: All-Sky Medium Energy Gamma Ray Observatory - Instrument and Mission Overview

Dr. Richard S. Woolf

Space Science Division, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

The MeV domain is one of the most underexplored windows on the Universe. From astrophysical jets and extreme physics of compact objects to a large population of unidentified objects, fundamental astrophysics questions can be addressed by a mission that opens a window into the MeV range. AMEGO is a wide-field gamma-ray telescope with dynamic range from ~200 keV to >10 GeV - providing sensitivity in the Compton and pair production regimes. AMEGO provides three new capabilities in MeV astrophysics: sensitive continuum spectral studies, polarization measurements, and nuclear line spectroscopy. AMEGO will consist of four hardware subsystems: a double-sided silicon strip tracker with analog readout, a segmented CZT calorimeter, a segmented CsI calorimeter and a plastic scintillator anticoincidence detector, and will operate primarily in an all-sky survey mode. In this presentation we will present an overview and the expected performance of each subsystem.