201. The GRASP telescope
- Author
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V. Schönfelder, G. Tomaschek, Niels Lund, Kevin Hurley, B. N. Swanenburg, Giovanni F. Bignami, C. Winkler, Ph. Durouchoux, B. McBreen, and A. J. Dean
- Subjects
Physics ,Astronomical Objects ,business.industry ,Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,GRASP ,Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics ,Astronomy ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Third generation ,law.invention ,Telescope ,Space and Planetary Science ,law ,Point (geometry) ,Spectral analysis ,Aerospace engineering ,Space astronomy ,business - Abstract
The GRASP mission Gamma-Ray Astronomy with Spectroscopy and Positioning addresses the scientific goals of fine spectroscopy with imaging and accurate positioning of gamma-ray sources, an unexplored area within gamma-ray astronomy. The assessment of GRASP as a future space astronomy mission in the mid-1990s has led to the design of the instrument outlined in this article. Thus GRASP is a third generation gamma-ray telescope and is designed to operate as a high quality spectral imager in the mid-1990s, when, following the GRO, SIGMA, and GAMMA-1 missions, there will be requirement for a more sophisticated instrument to maintain the momentum of advance in gamma-ray astronomy. The telescope will be capable of locating point sources with a precision of typically 1 arc min, whilst making a fine spectral analysis (E/ΔE ∼ 1000) of any gamma-ray line features. The high sensitivity of this instrument and the long (> 2 year) lifetime of the mission will enable a large number (∼ 1000) of astronomical objects to be studied. The GRASP mission has the potential to move gamma-ray astronomy from an era of basic exploration to one in which detailed and novel measurements can be used to gain a better understanding of many astrophysical problems.
- Published
- 1989