AGILE: A gamma-ray mission

Abstract

AGILE is an innovative, cost-effective gamma-ray mission selected by the Italian Space Agency for a Program of Small Scientific Missions. The AGILE gammaray imaging detector (GRID, made of a Silicon tracker and Csl Mini-Calorimeter) is designed to detect and image photons in the 30 MeV-50 GeV energy band with good sensitivity and very large field of view (FOV ~ 3 sr). The X-ray detector, Super-AGILE, sensitive in the 10-40 keV band and integrated on top of the GRID gamma-ray tracker will provide imaging (1-3 arcmin) and moderate spectroscopy. For selected sky areas, AGILE might achieve a flux sensitivity (above 100 MeV) better than 5 x 10~8 phcm 2 s~1 at the completion of its scientific program. AGILE will operate as an Observatory open to the international community and is planned to be operational during the year 2002 for a nominal 2-year mission. It will be an ideal 'bridge' between EGRET and GLAST, and the only mission entirely dedicated to high-energy astrophysics above 30 MeV during that period. CP510, The Fifth Compton Symposium, edited by M. L.

The future of GRB investigation from ground and space

“…AGILE is an Italian small satellite to be launched in 2007 (Tavani et al 2006). The two main instruments are a silicon-tungsten tracker, covering the range 30 MeV-50 GeV and an X-ray coded-mask imager, SuperAGILE, working in the 15-45 keV range with a FOV of 1sr and 1-2 arcmin location accuracy.…”