The AGILE anticoincidence detector

Perotti, F.; Fiorini, M.; Incorvaia, Salvatore; Mattaini, E.; Santambrogio, E.

doi:10.1016/j.nima.2005.10.016

Cited by 100 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…All scintillator tiles are coupled to silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) by optical fibers. The architecture of the Upper-AC detector is fully derived from the successful design of the AGILE [108] and Fermi/LAT [95] AC systems. In particular, their segmentation has proven successful at limiting the "backsplash" self-veto, therefore the dead time of the instrument.…”

Section: Anticoincidence Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The e-ASTROGAM mission

et al. 2017

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e-ASTROGAM ('enhanced ASTROGAM') is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV -the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV, albeit with rapidly degrading angular resolution, for the tracker, and to 30 keV for calorimetric detection. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. Thanks to its performance in the MeV-GeV domain, substantially improving its predecessors, e-ASTROGAM will open a new window on the non-thermal Universe, making pioneering observations of the most powerful Galactic and extragalactic sources, elucidating the nature of their relativistic outflows and their effects on the surroundings. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, e-ASTROGAM will determine the origin of key isotopes fundamental for the understanding of supernova explosion and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The mission will provide unique data of significant interest to a broad astronomical community, complementary to powerful observatories such as LIGO-Virgo-GEO600-KAGRA, SKA, ALMA, E-ELT, TMT, LSST, JWST, Athena, CTA, IceCube, KM3NeT, and the promise of eLISA.

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Section: Anticoincidence Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The e-ASTROGAM mission

et al. 2017

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“…Figure 3 shows a schematic view of the instrument, and Table 1 summarizes the main instrument's scientific performance. We summarize here the main characteristics of the instrument: several papers describe the individual detectors in detail (Perotti et al 2006;Barbiellini et al 1995a;Prest et al 2003;Feroci et al 2007;Labanti et al 2006).…”

Section: The Scientific Instrumentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The anticoincidence (AC) system is aimed at a very efficient charged particle background rejection (Perotti et al 2006). It also allows a preliminary direction reconstruction for triggered photon events through the DH logic.…”

Section: The Anticoincidence Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The AGILE Mission

Tavani

Barbiellini

Argan³

et al. 2009

A&A

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Context. AGILE is an Italian Space Agency mission dedicated to observing the gamma-ray Universe. The AGILE's very innovative instrumentation for the first time combines a gamma-ray imager (sensitive in the energy range 30 MeV-50 GeV), a hard X-ray imager (sensitive in the range 18-60 keV), a calorimeter (sensitive in the range 350 keV-100 MeV), and an anticoincidence system. AGILE was successfully launched on 2007 April 23 from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an equatorial orbit with very low particle background. Aims. AGILE provides crucial data for the study of active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, pulsars, unidentified gamma-ray sources, galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing.Methods. An optimal sky angular positioning (reaching 0.1 degrees in gamma-rays and 1-2 arcmin in hard X-rays) and very large fields of view (2.5 sr and 1 sr, respectively) are obtained by the use of Silicon detectors integrated in a very compact instrument. Results. AGILE surveyed the gamma-ray sky and detected many Galactic and extragalactic sources during the first months of observations. Particular emphasis is given to multifrequency observation programs of extragalactic and galactic objects. Conclusions. AGILE is a successful high-energy gamma-ray mission that reached its nominal scientific performance. The AGILE Cycle-1 pointing program started on 2007 December 1, and is open to the international community through a Guest Observer Program.

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“…The AGILE scientific Instrument (Tavani et al 2008(Tavani et al , 2009) is very compact and combines four active detectors that provide broad-band coverage from hard X-rays to γ-rays: a silicon tracker sensitive in the 30 MeV−30 GeV energy band (ST; Prest et al 2003;Barbiellini et al 2001); a co-aligned coded-mask X-ray imager sensitive in the 18−60 keV energy band (SuperAGILE; Feroci et al 2007;Costa et al 2001); a nonimaging cesium iodide mini-calorimeter placed below the ST and sensitive in the 0.3−100 MeV energy band (MCAL; Labanti et al 2009); and a segmented anti-coincidence system (ACS; Perotti et al 2006). The combination of silicon tracker, minicalorimeter, and anti-coincidence system forms the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID).…”

Section: Agile (Astrorivelatore Gamma a Immagini Leggero) Is Anmentioning

confidence: 99%

AGILE detection of intenseγ-ray activity from the blazar PKS 0537–441 in October 2008

Pucella

D’Ammando

Romano

et al. 2010

A&A

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Context. We report the detection by the AGILE satellite of intense γ-ray activity from the source 1AGL J0538−4424, associated with the lowenergy-peaked BL Lac PKS 0537−441, during a target of opportunity (ToO) observation performed on 2008 October 10-17, triggered by a Fermi-LAT alert, together with REM and Swift observations. Aims. The quasi-simultaneous near-infrared, optical, UV, X-ray, and γ-ray coverage allowed us to investigate the behaviour of the source in different energy bands and study the spectral energy distribution and a theoretical model that can describe the γ-ray state observed in mid-October. Methods. AGILE observed the source with its two co-aligned imagers: the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) and the hard X-ray imager (SuperAGILE), sensitive in the 30 MeV−30 GeV and 18−60 keV ranges, respectively. During the AGILE observation, the source was monitored simultaneously in the UV and X-ray bands by the Swift satellite through 6 ToO observations carried out between 2008 October 8 and 17. Moreover, the source was observed in the near-infrared and optical bands by the REM telescope on 2008 October 7, 8, and 9. Results. During 2008 October 10-17, AGILE-GRID detected γ-ray emission from PKS 0537-441 at a significance level of 5.3-σ with an average flux of (42 ± 11) × 10 −8 photons cm −2 s −1 for energies higher than 100 MeV. A significant increase in the γ-ray activity was detected between the first and the second halves of the observing period. REM and Swift/XRT detected the source in near-infrared/optical and X-rays during a relatively low and intermediate activity state, respectively, with no signs of evident variability in the different observations. However, Swift/UVOT detected an increase between the first and the second parts of the observing period, smaller than in the γ-rays. Conclusions. The average γ-ray flux of PKS 0537−441 detected by AGILE is close to the average flux observed for this source by the EGRET and Fermi-LAT instruments, with an increase of a factor 3 throughout the observation period up to a flux level slightly lower than the highest flux observed by Fermi-LAT during the first 11 months of operation. The spectral energy distribution of PKS 0537−441 in mid-October 2008 seems to require two synchrotron self-Compton components to be modelled, to account for both the near-infrared/optical bump and the X-ray data, together with the information on the γ-ray flux level observed by AGILE. An alternative model based on the external Compton radiation, which requires an accretion disk with a relatively high luminosity, is also proposed.

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The AGILE anticoincidence detector

Cited by 100 publications

References 6 publications

The e-ASTROGAM mission

The e-ASTROGAM mission

The AGILE Mission

AGILE detection of intenseγ-ray activity from the blazar PKS 0537–441 in October 2008

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