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217 results on '"I., Donnarumma"'

1. The first X-ray polarimetric observation of the black hole binary LMC X-1

Author

J Podgorný, L Marra, F Muleri, N Rodriguez Cavero, A Ratheesh, M Dovčiak, R Mikušincová, M Brigitte, J F Steiner, A Veledina, S Bianchi, H Krawczynski, J Svoboda, P Kaaret, G Matt, J A García, P-O Petrucci, A Lutovinov, A Semena, A Di Marco, M Negro, M C Weisskopf, A Ingram, J Poutanen, B Beheshtipour, S Chun, K Hu, T Mizuno, Z Sixuan, F Tombesi, S Zane, I Agudo, L A Antonelli, M Bachetti, L Baldini, W H Baumgartner, R Bellazzini, S D Bongiorno, R Bonino, A Brez, N Bucciantini, F Capitanio, S Castellano, E Cavazzuti, C Chen, S Ciprini, E Costa, A De Rosa, E Del Monte, L Di Gesu, N Di Lalla, I Donnarumma, V Doroshenko, S R Ehlert, T Enoto, Y Evangelista, S Fabiani, R Ferrazzoli, S Gunji, K Hayashida, J Heyl, W Iwakiri, S G Jorstad, V Karas, F Kislat, T Kitaguchi, J J Kolodziejczak, F La Monaca, L Latronico, I Liodakis, S Maldera, A Manfreda, F Marin, A Marinucci, A P Marscher, H L Marshall, F Massaro, I Mitsuishi, C-Y Ng, S L O’Dell, N Omodei, C Oppedisano, A Papitto, G G Pavlov, A L Peirson, M Perri, M Pesce-Rollins, M Pilia, A Possenti, S Puccetti, B D Ramsey, J Rankin, O J Roberts, R W Romani, C Sgrò, P Slane, P Soffitta, G Spandre, D A Swartz, T Tamagawa, F Tavecchio, R Taverna, Y Tawara, A F Tennant, N E Thomas, A Trois, S S Tsygankov, R Turolla, J Vink, K Wu, and F Xie

Published
2023
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2. Accretion geometry of the neutron star low mass X-ray binary Cyg X-2 from X-ray polarization measurements

Author

R Farinelli, S Fabiani, J Poutanen, F Ursini, C Ferrigno, S Bianchi, M Cocchi, F Capitanio, A De Rosa, A Gnarini, F Kislat, G Matt, R Mikusincova, F Muleri, I Agudo, L A Antonelli, M Bachetti, L Baldini, W H Baumgartner, R Bellazzini, S D Bongiorno, R Bonino, A Brez, N Bucciantini, S Castellano, E Cavazzuti, S Ciprini, E Costa, E Del Monte, L Di Gesu, N Di Lalla, A Di Marco, I Donnarumma, V Doroshenko, M Dovčiak, S R Ehlert, T Enoto, Y Evangelista, R Ferrazzoli, J A Garcia, S Gunji, K Hayashida, J Heyl, W Iwakiri, S G Jorstad, V Karas, T Kitaguchi, J J Kolodziejczak, H Krawczynski, F La Monaca, L Latronico, I Liodakis, S Maldera, A Manfreda, F Marin, A P Marscher, H L Marshall, I Mitsuishi, T Mizuno, C-Y Ng, S L O’Dell, N Omodei, C Oppedisano, A Papitto, G G Pavlov, A L Peirson, M Perri, M Pesce-Rollins, P O Petrucci, M Pilia, A Possenti, S Puccetti, B D Ramsey, J Rankin, A Ratheesh, R W Romani, C Sgrò, P Slane, P Soffitta, G Spandre, T Tamagawa, F Tavecchio, R Taverna, Y Tawara, A F Tennant, N E Thomas, F Tombesi, A Trois, S S Tsygankov, R Turolla, J Vink, M C Weisskopf, K Wu, F Xie, S Zane, Farinelli, R, Fabiani, S, Poutanen, J, Ursini, F, Ferrigno, C, Bianchi, S, Cocchi, M, Capitanio, F, De Rosa, A, Gnarini, A, Kislat, F, Matt, G, Mikusincova, R, Muleri, F, Agudo, I, Antonelli, L A, Bachetti, M, Baldini, L, Baumgartner, W H, Bellazzini, R, Bongiorno, S D, Bonino, R, Brez, A, Bucciantini, N, Castellano, S, Cavazzuti, E, Ciprini, S, Costa, E, Del Monte, E, Di Gesu, L, Di Lalla, N, Di Marco, A, Donnarumma, I, Doroshenko, V, Dovčiak, M, Ehlert, S R, Enoto, T, Evangelista, Y, Ferrazzoli, R, Garcia, J A, Gunji, S, Hayashida, K, Heyl, J, Iwakiri, W, Jorstad, S G, Karas, V, Kitaguchi, T, Kolodziejczak, J J, Krawczynski, H, Monaca, F La, Latronico, L, Liodakis, I, Maldera, S, Manfreda, A, Marin, F, Marscher, A P, Marshall, H L, Mitsuishi, I, Mizuno, T, Ng, C-Y, O’Dell, S L, Omodei, N, Oppedisano, C, Papitto, A, Pavlov, G G, Peirson, A L, Perri, M, Pesce-Rollins, M, Petrucci, P O, Pilia, M, Possenti, A, Puccetti, S, Ramsey, B D, Rankin, J, Ratheesh, A, Romani, R W, Sgrò, C, Slane, P, Soffitta, P, Spandre, G, Tamagawa, T, Tavecchio, F, Taverna, R, Tawara, Y, Tennant, A F, Thomas, N E, Tombesi, F, Trois, A, Tsygankov, S S, Turolla, R, Vink, J, Weisskopf, M C, Wu, K, Xie, F, and Zane, S

Subjects
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Space and Planetary Science, Settore FIS/05, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

We report spectro-polarimetric results of an observational campaign of the bright neutron star low-mass X-ray binary Cyg X-2 simultaneously observed by IXPE, NICER and INTEGRAL. Consistently with previous results, the broad-band spectrum is characterized by a lower-energy component, attributed to the accretion disc with $kT_{\rm in} \approx$ 1 keV, plus unsaturated Comptonization in thermal plasma with temperature $kT_{\rm e} = 3$ keV and optical depth $\tau \approx 4$, assuming a slab geometry. We measure the polarization degree in the 2-8 keV band $P=1.8 \pm 0.3$ per cent and polarization angle $\phi = 140^{\circ} \pm 4^{\circ}$, consistent with the previous X-ray polarimetric measurements by OSO-8 as well as with the direction of the radio jet which was earlier observed from the source. While polarization of the disc spectral component is poorly constrained with the IXPE data, the Comptonized emission has a polarization degree $P =4.0 \pm 0.7$ per cent and a polarization angle aligned with the radio jet. Our results strongly favour a spreading layer at the neutron star surface as the main source of the polarization signal. However, we cannot exclude a significant contribution from reflection off the accretion disc, as indicated by the presence of the iron fluorescence line., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Published
2023

3. Mapping the circumnuclear regions of the Circinus galaxy with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Author

F Ursini, A Marinucci, G Matt, S Bianchi, F Marin, H L Marshall, R Middei, J Poutanen, D Rogantini, A De Rosa, L Di Gesu, J A García, A Ingram, D E Kim, H Krawczynski, S Puccetti, P Soffitta, J Svoboda, F Tombesi, M C Weisskopf, T Barnouin, M Perri, J Podgorny, A Ratheesh, A Zaino, I Agudo, L A Antonelli, M Bachetti, L Baldini, W H Baumgartner, R Bellazzini, S D Bongiorno, R Bonino, A Brez, N Bucciantini, F Capitanio, S Castellano, E Cavazzuti, S Ciprini, E Costa, E Del Monte, N Di Lalla, A Di Marco, I Donnarumma, V Doroshenko, M Dovciak, S R Ehlert, T Enoto, Y Evangelista, S Fabiani, R Ferrazzoli, S Gunji, J Heyl, W Iwakiri, S G Jorstad, V Karas, T Kitaguchi, J J Kolodziejczak, F La Monaca, L Latronico, I Liodakis, S Maldera, A Manfreda, A P Marscher, I Mitsuishi, T Mizuno, F Muleri, C Y Ng, S L O’Dell, N Omodei, C Oppedisano, A Papitto, G G Pavlov, A L Peirson, M Pesce-Rollins, P-O Petrucci, M Pilia, A Possenti, B D Ramsey, J Rankin, R W Romani, C Sgrò, P Slane, G Spandre, T Tamagawa, F Tavecchio, R Taverna, Y Tawara, A F Tennant, N E Thomas, A Trois, S S Tsygankov, R Turolla, J Vink, K Wu, F Xie, S Zane, Ursini, F, Marinucci, A, Matt, G, Bianchi, S, Marin, F, L Marshall, H, Middei, R, Poutanen, J, De Rosa, A, Di Gesu, L, A Garc??a, J, Ingram, A, E Kim, D, Krawczynski, H, Puccetti, S, Soffitta, P, Svoboda, J, Tombesi, F, C Weisskopf, M, Barnouin, T, Perri, M, Podgorny, J, Ratheesh, A, Zaino, A, Agudo, I, A Antonelli, L, Bachetti, M, Baldini, L, H Baumgartner, W, Bellazzini, R, D Bongiorno, S, Bonino, R, Brez, A, Bucciantini, N, Capitanio, F, Castellano, S, Cavazzuti, E, Ciprini, S, Costa, E, Del Monte, E, Di Lalla, N, Di Marco, A, Donnarumma, I, Doroshenko, V, Dovciak, M, R Ehlert, S, Enoto, T, Evangelista, Y, Fabiani, S, Ferrazzoli, R, Gunji, S, Heyl, J, Iwakiri, W, G Jorstad, S, Karas, V, Kitaguchi, T, J Kolodziejczak, J, La Monaca, F, Latronico, L, Liodakis, I, Maldera, S, Manfreda, A, P Marscher, A, Mitsuishi, I, Mizuno, T, Muleri, F, Y Ng, C, L O???Dell, S, Omodei, N, Oppedisano, C, Papitto, A, G Pavlov, G, L Peirson, A, Pesce-Rollins, M, Petrucci, P-O, Pilia, M, Possenti, A, D Ramsey, B, Rankin, J, W Romani, R, Sgr??, C, Slane, P, Spandre, G, Tamagawa, T, Tavecchio, F, Taverna, R, Tawara, Y, F Tennant, A, E Thomas, N, Trois, A, S Tsygankov, S, Turolla, R, Vink, J, Wu, K, Xie, F, Zane, S, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (España), Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (France), and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana

Subjects
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Scattering, Galaxies: individual: Circinus, X-rays: galaxies, Galaxies: Seyfert, Settore FIS/05, Space and Planetary Science, Polarization, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Galaxies: active, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

Full list of authors: Ursini, F.; Marinucci, A.; Matt, G.; Bianchi, S.; Marin, F.; Marshall, H. L.; Middei, R.; Poutanen, J.; Rogantini, D.; De Rosa, A.; Di Gesu, L.; Garcia, J. A.; Ingram, A.; Kim, D. E.; Krawczynski, H.; Puccetti, S.; Soffitta, P.; Svoboda, J.; Tombesi, F.; Weisskopf, M. C.; Barnouin, T.; Perri, M.; Podgorny, J.; Ratheesh, A.; Zaino, A.; Agudo, I; Antonelli, L. A.; Bachetti, M.; Baldini, L.; Baumgartner, W. H.; Bellazzini, R.; Bongiorno, S. D.; Bonino, R.; Brez, A.; Bucciantini, N.; Capitanio, F.; Castellano, S.; Cavazzuti, E.; Ciprini, S.; Costa, E.; Del Monte, E.; Di Lalla, N.; Di Marco, A.; Donnarumma, I; Doroshenko, V; Dovciak, M.; Ehlert, S. R.; Enoto, T.; Evangelista, Y.; Fabiani, S.; Ferrazzoli, R.; Gunji, S.; Heyl, J.; Iwakiri, W.; Jorstad, S. G.; Karas, V; Kitaguchi, T.; Kolodziejczak, J. J.; La Monaca, F.; Latronico, L.; Liodakis, I; Maldera, S.; Manfreda, A.; Marscher, A. P.; Mitsuishi, I; Mizuno, T.; Muleri, F.; Ng, C. Y.; O'Dell, S. L.; Omodei, N.; Oppedisano, C.; Papitto, A.; Pavlov, G. G.; Peirson, A. L.; Pesce-Rollins, M.; Petrucci, P-O; Pilia, M.; Possenti, A.; Ramsey, B. D.; Rankin, J.; Romani, R. W.; Sgro, C.; Slane, P.; Spandre, G.; Tamagawa, T.; Tavecchio, F.; Taverna, R.; Tawara, Y.; Tennant, A. F.; Thomas, N. E.; Trois, A.; Tsygankov, S. S.; Turolla, R.; Vink, J.; Wu, K.; Xie, F.; Zane, S., We report on the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observation of the closest and X-ray brightest Compton-thick active galactic nucleus (AGN), the Circinus galaxy. We find the source to be significantly polarized in the 2–6 keV band. From previous studies, the X-ray spectrum is known to be dominated by reflection components, both neutral (torus) and ionized (ionization cones). Our analysis indicates that the polarization degree is 28 ± 7 per cent (at 68 per cent confidence level) for the neutral reflector, with a polarization angle of 18° ± 5°, roughly perpendicular to the radio jet. The polarization of the ionized reflection is unconstrained. A comparison with Monte Carlo simulations of the polarization expected from the torus shows that the neutral reflector is consistent with being an equatorial torus with a half-opening angle of 45°–55°. This is the first X-ray polarization detection in a Seyfert galaxy, demonstrating the power of X-ray polarimetry in probing the geometry of the circumnuclear regions of AGNs, and confirming the basic predictions of standard Unification Models. © 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society., The Imaging X ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a joint US and Italian mission. The US contribution is supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and led and managed by its Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), with industry partner Ball Aerospace (contract NNM15AA18C). The Italian contribution is supported by the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, ASI) through contract ASI-OHBI-2017-12-I.0, agreements ASI-INAF-2017-12-H0 and ASI-INFN-2017.13-H0, and its Space Science Data Center (SSDC) with agreements ASI-INAF-2022-14-HH.0 and ASI-INFN 2021-43-HH.0, and by the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) in Italy. This research used data products provided by the IXPE Team (MSFC, SSDC, INAF, and INFN) and distributed with additional software tools by the High-Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). JPou and SST were supported by the Academy of Finland grants 349373 and 349906. AIng acknowledges support from the Royal Society. MDov, JSvo, and VKar acknowledge the support from the GACR project 21-06825X. POP acknowledges financial support from the French High Energy Program (PNHE/CNRS) and from the French spatial agency (CNES)., With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2021-001131-S).

Published
2022

4. The Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE): technical overview IV

Author

D. Zachery Allen, Stephen D. Bongiorno, Lee Reedy, M. Ceccanti, Tim Seek, Stephen L. O'Dell, MacKenzie Ferrie, Paolo Sarra, Chet O. Speegle, H.Kyle Byggott, John Rankin, Joseph Footdale, Kevin Ferrant, Carmelo Sgrò, Noah Root, Alessio Nuti, Alda Rubini, Ciro Caporale, Steven D. Pavelitz, Scott C. Mitchell, Maura Pilia, Ettore Delmonte, Toan Nguyen, Marcello Tardiola, S. Castellano, Federico Mosti, Christopher Schroeder, Randy M. Baggett, C. Oppedisano, Simonetta Puccetti, Allyn F. Tennant, Brent Forsyth, Marco Vimercati, Enrico Costa, Alessio Trois, Marco Castronuovo, Giusseppe Di Persio, Grant Hibbard, Elisabetta Cavazutti, Hikmat Nasimi, Nicholas Thomas, Leonardo Orsini, Jeff Bladt, Christopher Boree, Paolo Soffitta, Elisa D'Alba, Francesco Santoli, Eric Kelly, Saverio Citraro, Michele Pinchera, Michelle Foster, Daniele Brienza, Francesco Zanetti, M. Negro, Roger W. Romani, Kalie Sosdian, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Antonino Tobia, Sergio Fabiani, Darren Osborne, Herman L. Marshall, Elio Mangravati, Michael McEachen, Brian D. Ramsey, Claudia Cardelli, Ajay Ratheesh, Giorgio Matt, Pasqualino Lofredo, Richard Pacheco, Jeffery J. Kolodziejczak, Samantha Johnson, I. Donnarumma, Jeffery Wedmore, Y. Evangelista, Shuichi Gunji, Colin Peterson, Fabio La Monaca, Christina Pentz, Kurtis L. Dietz, Ronaldo Bellazzini, M. Perri, Mauro Centrone, Javier Sánchez, Fabio Borotto, Jason Andersen, Alberto Manfreda, Gloria Spandre, Isaac Nitschke, Mitch Onizuka, Alessandro Brez, Alessandra Marrocchesi, Fabio D'Amico, Shawn Breeding, Jeffrey McCracken, Francesco Massaro, Will Painter, Rafaella Bonino, Michael Head, Shelley Le Roy, Kiranmayee Kilaru, Paolo Mereu, Raffaele Piazzolla, Luca Cavalli, William D. Deininger, Fabrizio Amici, Martin C. Weisskopf, F. Muleri, Cheryl Alexander, S. Maldera, Andrea Sciortino, Primo Attina, Leonardo Lucchesi, David Welch, E. Scalise, Barbara Negri, Angelo Antonelli, Jaganathan Ranganathan, Matteo Bachetti, Benjamin Garelick, Carlo Lefevre, Mattia Barbanera, W. H. Baumgartner, Marco Marengo, Niccolò Di Lalla, Ikuyuki Mitsuishi, William Kalinowski, Stephanie Ruswick, Bruce Weddendorf, Eli Gurnee, Toru Tamagawa, Fei Xie, Amy L. Walden, Robert Valerie, Luca Latronico, Massimo Minuti, David Dolan, Rita Carpentiero, Rondal Mize, David Mauger, Alessandro Profeti, Paolo Lorenzi, Alessandro Paggi, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Luca Baldini, Alessandro Di Marco, Alfredo Morbidini, Guido Magazzu, Spencer Antoniak, and Tyler Maddox

Subjects
Spacecraft, gas pixel detectors, Computer science, Payload, business.industry, grazing-incidence optics, Detector, Polarimetry, law.invention, Telescope, X-ray polarimetry, law, Observatory, Orbit (dynamics), Focal length, X-ray polarimetry, gas pixel detectors, grazing-incidence optics, business, Remote sensing
Abstract

Scheduled to launch in late 2021 the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a Small Explorer Mission designed to open up a new window of investigation -- X-ray polarimetry. The IXPE observatory features 3 identical telescope each consisting of a mirror module assembly with a polarization-sensitive imaging x-ray detector at its focus. An extending beam, deployed on orbit provides the necessary 4 m focal length. The payload sits atop a 3-axis stabilized spacecraft which among other things provides power, attitude determination and control, commanding, and telemetry to the ground. During its 2-year baseline mission, IXPE will conduct precise polarimetry for samples of multiple categories of x-ray sources, with follow-on observations of selected targets. IXPE is a partnership between NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).

Published
2021
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5. Perspectives of blazar studies with future space missions

Author

I. Donnarumma, S. Vercellone, and ITA

Subjects
0303 health sciences, business.industry, Computer science, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Space (commercial competition), 01 natural sciences, Space exploration, 03 medical and health sciences, 030301 anatomy & morphology, 0103 physical sciences, Systems engineering, General Earth and Planetary Sciences, General Agricultural and Biological Sciences, Blazar, business, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, General Environmental Science, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Agile software development
Abstract

Since the AGILE and Fermi launch, the synergy between gamma-ray experiments and other space- and ground-based observatories has been the key to carry out multi-wavelength campaign aimed at understanding the physical mechanisms responsible for the observed gamma-ray emission in astrophysical sources. Blazars are the best examples of astrophysical sources where this strategy has been applied. The big efforts put in place for blazars to obtain coordinated observations with a broad coverage of the electromagnetic spectrum are providing new diagnostics of the physical processes at work in these sources, raising a lot of challenges for the theoretical interpretation. These could be partially solved through further observations with ground- and space-based facilities, therefore requiring new advances in technology and mission profile design. We will discuss how the lessons learned from current $$\gamma$$-ray observatories represent an important heritage for future missions expected to play a crucial role in the understanding of extreme phenomena in the high-energy domain.

Published
2019
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6. The Instrument of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Author

Leonardo Lucchesi, S. Nenonen, Alessandro Brez, Simonetta Puccetti, Luca Latronico, Hans Andersson, Mattia Barbanera, Ciro Caporale, Leonardo Orsini, Luca Baldini, Michele Pinchera, Alessandro Profeti, Federico Mosti, Alessandro Di Marco, M. Perri, M. Ceccanti, Ettore Del Monte, Ajay Ratheesh, Claudia Cardelli, Elisa D'Alba, Antonino Tobia, Paolo Lorenzi, Niccolò Di Lalla, Maura Pilia, Elio Mangraviti, Rita Carpentiero, E. Scalise, Barbara Negri, Daniele Brienza, Matteo Bachetti, Alfredo Morbidini, Carlo Magazzu, Toru Tamagawa, Alessio Trois, Carmelo Sgrò, Fei Xie, Pasqualino Loffredo, Giuseppe Di Persio, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Sergio Di Cosimo, S. Castellano, John Rankin, Massimo Minuti, Primo Attinà, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Marco Castronuovo, Marco Marengo, Francesco Santoli, Luca Cavalli, Saverio Citraro, Takao Kitaguchi, Fabrizio Amici, Paolo Mereu, Toshio Nakano, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, Paolo Soffitta, Mauro Centrone, Alberto Manfreda, Asami Hayato, Fabio D'Amico, E. Cavazzuti, Ronaldo Bellazzini, Gloria Spandre, Enrico Costa, Stefano Ciprini, Raffaele Piazzolla, Giorgio Matt, Fabio La Monaca, Alda Rubini, Marcello Tardiola, Alessio Nuti, Marco Vimercati, Sergio Fabiani, Fabio Borotto, S. Maldera, Andrea Sciortino, Carlo Lefevre, Fabio Muleri, Paolo Sarra, Hikmat Nasimi, Soffitta, P., Baldini, L., Bellazzini, R., Costa, E., Latronico, L., Muleri, F., Del Monte, E., Fabiani, S., Minuti, M., Pinchera, M., Sgro', C., Spandre, G., Trois, A., Amici, F., Andersson, H., Attina', P., Bachetti, M., Barbanera, M., Borotto, F., Brez, A., Brienza, D., Caporale, C., Cardelli, C., Carpentiero, R., Castellano, S., Castronuovo, M., Cavalli, L., Cavazzuti, E., Ceccanti, M., Centrone, M., Ciprini, S., Citraro, S., D'Amico, F., D'Alba, E., Di Cosimo, S., Di Lalla, N., Di Marco, A., Di Persio, G., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Ferrazzoli, R., Hayato, A., Kitaguchi, T., La Monaca, F., Lefevre, C., Loffredo, P., Lorenzi, P., Lucchesi, L., Magazzu, C., Maldera, S., Manfreda, A., Mangraviti, E., Marengo, M., Matt, G., Mereu, P., Morbidini, A., Mosti, F., Nakano, T., Nasimi, H., Negri, B., Nenonen, S., Nuti, A., Orsini, L., Perri, M., Pesce-Rollins, M., Piazzolla, R., Pilia, M., Profeti, A., Puccetti, S., Rankin, J., Ratheesh, A., Rubini, A., Santoli, F., Sarra, P., Scalise, E., Sciortino, A., Tamagawa, T., Tardiola, M., Tobia, A., Vimercati, M., and Xie, F.

Subjects
Physics, X-ray astronomy, business.industry, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, X-ray, Polarimetry, X-ray detector, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Optics, Space and Planetary Science, X-ray, Polarimetry — Instrumentation, business, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Abstract

While X-ray Spectroscopy, Timing and Imaging have improved verymuch since 1962, when the first astronomical non-solar source was discovered, especially with the launch of Newton/X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission, Rossi/X-ray Timing Explorer and Chandra/Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, the progress of X-ray polarimetry has been meager. This is in part due to the lack of sensitive polarization detectors, in part due to the fate of approved missions and in part because the celestial X-ray sources appeared less polarized than expected. Only one positive measurement has been available until now. Indeed the eight Orbiting Solar Observatory measured the polarization of the Crab nebula in the 70s. The advent of techniques of microelectronics allowed for designing a detector based on the photoelectric effect in gas in an energy range where the optics are efficient in focusing X-rays. Herewe describe the Instrument, which is the major contribution of the Italian collaboration to the SmallExplorer mission called IXPE, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, which will be flown in late 2021. The instrument, is composed of three Detector Units, based on this technique, and a Detector Service Unit. Three Mirror Modules provided by Marshall Space Flight Center focus X-rays onto the detectors. In the following we will show the technological choices, their scientific motivation and the results from the calibration of the Instrument. IXPE will perform imaging, timing and energy resolved polarimetry in the 2-8 keV energy band opening this window of X-ray astronomy to tens of celestial sources of almost all classes., 25 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables (accepted for publication in Astronomical Journal)

Published
2021

7. An X-ray burst from a magnetar enlightening the mechanism of fast radio bursts

Author

F. Perotti, M. Cardillo, Paolo Lipari, F. Lucarelli, Giancarlo Setti, F. Fuschino, N. Parmiggiani, P. Giommi, Francesco Lazzarotto, Arnaud Ferrari, F. Paoletti, P. Picozza, Guido Barbiellini, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, V. Vittorini, M. Trifoglio, Germano Bianchi, Simonetta Puccetti, Francesco Longo, Giovanni Naldi, A. Rappoldi, Alda Rubini, P. W. Cattaneo, M. Rapisarda, P. Caraveo, A. Addis, Valentina Fioretti, C. Casentini, A. W. Chen, S. Vercellone, G. Di Persio, Paolo Soffitta, M. Galli, A. Argan, F. Verrecchia, Gianni Bernardi, Alessio Magro, Andrea Bulgarelli, Enrico Costa, A. Ursi, Giuseppe Pupillo, L. Baroncelli, E. Del Monte, Martino Marisaldi, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, Sandro Mereghetti, L. A. Antonelli, C. Pittori, Maura Pilia, Alessio Trois, Marco Tavani, Fulvio Gianotti, Ennio Morelli, F. D'Amico, G. Piano, A. Pellizzoni, A. Morselli, A. Giuliani, Claudio Labanti, G. Di Cocco, M. Perri, ITA, USA, ZAF, Tavani, M., Casentini, C., Ursi, A., Verrecchia, F., Addis, A., Antonelli, L. A., Argan, A., Barbiellini, G., Baroncelli, L., Bernardi, G., Bianchi, G., Bulgarelli, A., Caraveo, P., Cardillo, M., Cattaneo, P. W., Chen, A. W., Costa, E., Del Monte, E., Di Cocco, G., Di Persio, G., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Feroci, M., Ferrari, A., Fioretti, V., Fuschino, F., Galli, M., Gianotti, F., Giuliani, A., Labanti, C., Lazzarotto, F., Lipari, P., Longo, F., Lucarelli, F., Magro, A., Marisaldi, M., Mereghetti, S., Morelli, E., Morselli, A., Naldi, G., Pacciani, L., Parmiggiani, N., Paoletti, F., Pellizzoni, A., Perri, M., Perotti, F., Piano, G., Picozza, P., Pilia, M., Pittori, C., Puccetti, S., Pupillo, G., Rapisarda, M., Rappoldi, A., Rubini, A., Setti, G., Soffitta, P., Trifoglio, M., Trois, A., Vercellone, S., Vittorini, V., Giommi, P., and D???amico, F.

Subjects
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Context (language use), Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics, Magnetar, 01 natural sciences, Magnetic field, Neutron star, 0103 physical sciences, Fast radio bursts, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Event (particle physics), Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are short (millisecond) radio pulses originating from enigmatic sources at extragalactic distances so far lacking a detection in other energy bands. Magnetized neutron stars (magnetars) have been considered as the sources powering the FRBs, but the connection is controversial because of differing energetics and the lack of radio and X-ray detections with similar characteristics in the two classes. We report here the detection by the AGILE satellite on April 28, 2020 of an X-ray burst in coincidence with the very bright radio burst from the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154. The burst detected by AGILE in the hard X-ray band (18-60 keV) lasts about 0.5 seconds, it is spectrally cutoff above 80 keV, and implies an isotropically emitted energy ~ $10^{40}$ erg. This event is remarkable in many ways: it shows for the first time that a magnetar can produce X-ray bursts in coincidence with FRB-like radio bursts; it also suggests that FRBs associated with magnetars may emit X-ray bursts of both magnetospheric and radio-pulse types that may be discovered in nearby sources. Guided by this detection, we discuss SGR 1935+2154 in the context of FRBs, and especially focus on the class of repeating-FRBs. Based on energetics, magnetars with fields B ~ $10^{15}$ G may power the majority of repeating-FRBs. Nearby repeating-FRBs offer a unique occasion to consolidate the FRB-magnetar connection, and we present new data on the X-ray monitoring of nearby FRBs. Our detection enlightens and constrains the physical process leading to FRBs: contrary to previous expectations, high-brightness temperature radio emission coexists with spectrally-cutoff X-ray radiation., Submitted to Nature Astronomy, May 18, 2020

Published
2021

8. Prospects for a polarimetric mapping of the Sgr A molecular cloud complex with IXPE

Author

I. Donnarumma, Paolo Soffitta, L. Di Gesu, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Fabio Muleri, Frédéric Marin, Enrico Costa, R. Ferrazzoli, Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg (ObAS), and Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Galaxy: nucleus, Polarization, X-rays: general, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Molecular cloud, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Galactic Center, Polarimetry, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Context (language use), Field of view, Polarimeter, Astrophysics, Polarization (waves), 01 natural sciences, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies, Spectral line, Space and Planetary Science, [SDU]Sciences of the Universe [physics], Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA), 0103 physical sciences, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics
Abstract

The X-ray polarization degree of the molecular clouds that surround Sgr A* is expected to be greatly lowered because the polarized reflection emission is mixed with the unpolarized thermal emission that pervades the Galactic center region. Hence, this will be a challenging observation for the upcoming Imaging X-ray Polarimeter Explorer (IXPE). We aim to determine the detectability of four molecular clouds (MC) of the Sgr A complex (MC2, Bridge B2, Bridge E, and G0.11-0.11) in a realistic IXPE pointing of the Sgr A field of view. We assess the Minimum Detectable Polarization (MDP) increase when a MC is off axis. We provide two different strategies to reconstruct the intrinsic cloud polarization once the data will be available. We use the Monte Carlo tool ixpeobssim to simulate IXPE observations of the Sgr A MC complex. We use Chandra maps and spectra to model the diffuse emission in the Galactic center region along with a realistic model of the instrumental and diffuse background. We create synthetic polarization products of the unpolarized emission. We combine them with a test dataset from a simulation of a 2 Ms long IXPE observation to retrieve the intrinsic polarization degree of the MCs. We find that for the MC considered here, the MDP increases by 1-15% with respect to the case in which a cloud is observed on-axis. We successfully retrieve the intrinsic polarization degree in the 4.0-8.0 keV band and line-of-sight distance of one of them taken as an example, G0.11-0.11, by correcting the observed (i.e., for a 2 Ms-long simulation) polarization degree map using either a synthetic dilution map or a Stokes intensity map of the unpolarized emission. With both methods, the position of the cloud along the line-of-sight is derived from the reconstructed polarization degree with an uncertainty of 7 and 4 pc, respectively., 14 pages, 7 figures. Accepter for publication on Astronomy & Astrophysiscs

Published
2021

9. Design, construction, and test of the Gas Pixel Detectors for the IXPE mission

Author

Carlo Magazzu, E. Del Monte, Paolo Sarra, Alessandro Brez, Alessandra Marrocchesi, Elisa D'Alba, A. Rubini, Rita Carpentiero, Takao Kitaguchi, Luca Cavalli, Guido Magazzu, John Rankin, Alfredo Morbidini, S. Nenonen, E. Cavazzuti, Fabio Borotto, C. Oppedisano, Marco Marengo, Gloria Spandre, Federico Mosti, Francesco Zanetti, Primo Attina, Sergio Fabiani, E. Scalise, Barbara Negri, Michele Pinchera, Francesco Santoli, Simonetta Puccetti, Ciro Caporale, F. La Monaca, Saverio Citraro, R. Bonino, Fabrizio Amici, Fei Xie, F. Muleri, Paolo Lorenzi, Luca Latronico, Leonardo Orsini, Marcello Tardiola, Antonino Tobia, Matteo Bachetti, Mauro Centrone, Allyn F. Tennant, Alessandro Profeti, Claudia Cardelli, Alberto Manfreda, S. Di Cosimo, P. Soffitta, Daniele Brienza, Raffaele Piazzolla, Wayne H. Baumgartner, S. Maldera, Andrea Sciortino, M. Perri, Carlo Lefevre, Ajay Ratheesh, Steve O'Dell, N. Di Lalla, Luca Baldini, Maura Pilia, Elio Mangraviti, Marco Castronuovo, Alessio Trois, Fabio D'Amico, Alessio Nuti, Paolo Mereu, A. Di Marco, K. Uchiyama, Leonardo Lucchesi, D. Zanetti, Giorgio Matt, Enrico Costa, Martin C. Weisskopf, Y. Zhou, Toshio Nakano, Marco Vimercati, S. Pieraccini, Ronaldo Bellazzini, R. Ferrazzoli, T. Meilahti, Toru Tamagawa, Pasqualino Loffredo, Massimo Minuti, G. Di Persio, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Carmelo Sgrò, S. Castellano, Hikmat Nasimi, Hans Andersson, Brian D. Ramsey, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Ceccanti, M. Barbanera, Baldini, L., Barbanera, M., Bellazzini, R., Bonino, R., Borotto, F., Brez, A., Caporale, C., Cardelli, C., Castellano, S., Ceccanti, M., Citraro, S., Di Lalla, N., Latronico, L., Lucchesi, L., Magazzu, C., Magazzu, G., Maldera, S., Manfreda, A., Marengo, M., Marrocchesi, A., Mereu, P., Minuti, M., Mosti, F., Nasimi, H., Nuti, A., Oppedisano, C., Orsini, L., Pesce-Rollins, M., Pinchera, M., Profeti, A., Sgro, C., Spandre, G., Tardiola, M., Zanetti, D., Amici, F., Andersson, H., Attina, P., Bachetti, M., Baumgartner, W., Brienza, D., Carpentiero, R., Castronuovo, M., Cavalli, L., Cavazzuti, E., Centrone, M., Costa, E., D'Alba, E., D'Amico, F., Del Monte, E., Di Cosimo, S., Di Marco, A., Di Persio, G., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Fabiani, S., Ferrazzoli, R., Kitaguchi, T., La Monaca, F., Lefevre, C., Loffredo, P., Lorenzi, P., Mangraviti, E., Matt, G., Meilahti, T., Morbidini, A., Muleri, F., Nakano, T., Negri, B., Nenonen, S., O'Dell, S. L., Perri, M., Piazzolla, R., Pieraccini, S., Pilia, M., Puccetti, S., Ramsey, B. D., Rankin, J., Ratheesh, A., Rubini, A., Santoli, F., Sarra, P., Scalise, E., Sciortino, A., Soffitta, P., Tamagawa, T., Tennant, A. F., Tobia, A., Trois, A., Uchiyama, K., Vimercati, M., Weisskopf, M. C., Xie, F., Zanetti, F., and Zhou, Y.

Subjects
Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors, Pixel, Emphasis (telecommunications), Detector, Gas detectors, X-ray polarimetry, Polarimetry, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det), Dead time, X-ray polarimetry Gas detectors, Noise (electronics), Cardinal point, Application-specific integrated circuit, Gas detector, Electronic engineering, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Abstract

Due to be launched in late 2021, the Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is a NASA Small Explorer mission designed to perform polarization measurements in the 2-8 keV band, complemented with imaging, spectroscopy and timing capabilities. At the heart of the focal plane is a set of three polarization-sensitive Gas Pixel Detectors (GPD), each based on a custom ASIC acting as a charge-collecting anode. In this paper we shall review the design, manufacturing, and test of the IXPE focal-plane detectors, with particular emphasis on the connection between the science drivers, the performance metrics and the operational aspects. We shall present a thorough characterization of the GPDs in terms of effective noise, trigger efficiency, dead time, uniformity of response, and spectral and polarimetric performance. In addition, we shall discuss in detail a number of instrumental effects that are relevant for high-level science analysis -- particularly as far as the response to unpolarized radiation and the stability in time are concerned., Comment: To be published in Astroparticle Physics

Published
2021

10. OBSERVING GRBS WITH THE LOFT WIDE FIELD MONITOR

Author

S. Brandt, M. Hernanz, M. Feroci, L. Amati, Alvarez P. Azzarello, D. Barret, E. Bozzo, C. Budtz-Jørgensen, R. Campana, A. Castro-Tirado, A. Cros, E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, J. L. Galvez Sanchez, D. Gotz, J. W. den Herder, A. Hornstrup, R. Hudec, D. Karelin, M. van der Klis, S. Korpela, I. Kuvvetli, N. Lund, P. Orleanski, M. Pohl, A. Rachevski, A. Santangelo, S. Schanne, C. Schmid, L. Stella, S. Suchy, C. Tenzer, A. Vacchi, J. Wilms, N. Zampa, J. J. M. in’t Zand, and A. Zdziarski

Published
2020
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11. Prospects for IXPE and eXTP polarimetric archaeology of the reflection nebulae in the Galactic center

Author

L. Di Gesu, Paolo Soffitta, Melissa Pesce-Rollins, Enrico Costa, Frédéric Marin, Fabio Muleri, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, I. Donnarumma, Observatoire astronomique de Strasbourg (ObAS), and Université de Strasbourg (UNISTRA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Subjects
Point spread function, Reflection nebula, Galaxy:nucleus, Polarimetry, FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics, X-rays: general, 01 natural sciences, symbols.namesake, 0103 physical sciences, X-rays:general, Polarization, Galaxy:nucleus, X-rays:general, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, polarization, Galaxy: nucleus, Line-of-sight, Brewster's angle, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Molecular cloud, Galactic Center, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Polarization (waves), Space and Planetary Science, symbols, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

The X-ray polarization properties of the reflection nebulae in the Galactic center inform us about the direction of the illuminating source (through the polarization angle) and the cloud position along the line of sight (through the polarization degree). However, the detected polarization degree is expected to be lowered because the polarized emission of the clouds is mixed with the unpolarized diffuse emission that permeates the Galactic center region. In a real observation, also the morphological smearing of the source due to the point spread function and the unpolarized instrumental background contribute in diluting the polarization degree. So far, these effects have never been included in the estimation of the dilution. We evaluate the detectability of the X-ray polarization predicted for the MC2, Bridge-B2, G0.11-0.11, Sgr B2, Sgr C1, Sgr C2, and Sgr C3 molecular clouds with modern X-ray imaging polarimeters such as the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) and the Enhanced X-ray Timing and Polarimetry mission (eXTP). We perform realistic simulations of X-ray polarimetric observations considering (with the aid of Chandra maps and spectra) the spatial, spectral, and polarization properties of all the diffuse emission and background components in each region of interest. We find that in the 4.0-8.0 keV band, where the emission of the molecular clouds outshines the other components, the dilution of the polarization degree, including the contribution due to the morphological smearing of the source, ranges between $\sim$19\% and $\sim$55\%. We conclude that for some distance values reported in the literature, the diluted polarization degree of G0.11-0.11, Sgr B2, Bridge-B2, Bridge-E, Sgr C1, and Sgr C3 may be detectable in a 2 Ms long IXPE observations. The enhanced capabilities of eXTP may allow detecting the 4.0-8.0 keV of all the targets considered here., accepted for publication in Astronomy&Astrophysics

Published
2020
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12. Gamma-Ray and X-Ray Observations of the Periodic-Repeater FRB 180916 During Active Phases

Author

F. Verrecchia, Giuseppe Pupillo, A. W. Chen, Valentina Fioretti, Y. Evangelista, Marco Feroci, P. W. Cattaneo, Luigi Pacciani, Francesco Longo, Maura Pilia, Simonetta Puccetti, L. A. Antonelli, A. Argan, Gianni Bernardi, Alessio Trois, C. Casentini, Andrea Bulgarelli, Enrico Costa, A. Ursi, Francesco Lazzarotto, G. Piano, Marco Tavani, N. Parmiggiani, C. Pittori, F. Paoletti, I. Donnarumma, S. Vercellone, L. Baroncelli, G. Di Persio, A. Morselli, Giovanni Naldi, P. Caraveo, A. Addis, M. Perri, Attilio Ferrari, Germano Bianchi, Tavani, M., Verrecchia, F., Casentini, C., Perri, M., Ursi, A., Pacciani, L., Pittori, C., Bulgarelli, A., Piano, G., Pilia, M., Bernardi, G., Addis, A., Antonelli, L. A., Argan, A., Baroncelli, L., Caraveo, P., Cattaneo, P. W., Chen, A., Costa, E., Persio, G. D., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Feroci, M., Ferrari, A., Fioretti, V., Lazzarotto, F., Longo, F., Morselli, A., Paoletti, F., Parmiggiani, N., Trois, A., Vercellone, S., Naldi, G., Pupillo, G., Bianchi, G., Puccetti, S., ITA, USA, and ZAF

Subjects
Radio transient sources, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, FOS: Physical sciences, Flux, Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Gamma-ray transient sources, Luminosity, X-ray astronomy, 0103 physical sciences, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Radio burst, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, Gamma-ray astronomy, Radio bursts, Magnetic energy, Gamma ray, Radio transient source, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Radius, Space and Planetary Science, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Order of magnitude
Abstract

FRB 180916 is a most intriguing source at 150 Mpc distance capable of producing repeating fast radio bursts with a periodic 16.35 day temporal pattern. We report on the X-ray and $\gamma$-ray observations of FRB 180916 obtained by AGILE and Swift. We focused on the recurrent 5-day time intervals of active radio bursting and present results obtained on Feb. 3 - 8; Feb. 25; Mar. 5 - 10; Mar. 22 - 28, 2020 during a multiwavelength campaign involving high-energy and radio observations. We also searched for temporal coincidences at millisecond timescales between all known radio bursts of FRB 180916 and X-ray and MeV events detectable by AGILE. We do not detect any simultaneous event or any extended X-ray and $\gamma$-ray emission on timescales of hours/days/weeks. Our cumulative X-ray (0.3-10 keV) flux upper limit of $5 \times\,10^{-14} \rm \, erg \, cm^{-2} s^{-1}$ (obtained during 5-day active intervals) translates into an isotropic luminosity upper limit of $L_{X,UL} \sim 1.5 \times\, 10^{41} \rm erg \, s^{-1}$. Observations above 100 MeV over a many-year timescale provide an average luminosity upper limit one order of magnitude larger. These results provide the so-far most stringent limits on high-energy emission from FRB 180916 and constrain the dissipation of magnetic energy from a magnetar-like source of radius $R_m$, internal magnetic field $B_m$ and dissipation timescale $\tau_d$ to satisfy the relation $R_{m,6}^3 B_{m,16}^2 \tau_{d,8}^{-1} \lesssim 1$, where $R_{m,6}$ is $R_m$ in units of $10^6$ cm, $B_{m,16}$ is $B_m$ in units of $10^{16}$ G, and $\tau_{d,8}$ in units of $10^8$ s., Comment: Accepted for publication by the Astrophysical Journal Letters on April 5, 2020

Published
2020

13. Paving the way to simultaneous multi-wavelength astronomy

Author

L. Heil, G. van Moorsel, M. van Doesburgh, Nathalie Degenaar, B. Leibundgut, Chris Done, Sera Markoff, Tom Marsh, Piergiorgio Casella, I. Donnarumma, D. J. Thompson, W. N. Brandt, S. Eikenberry, D. M. Russell, P. Woudt, Diego Altamirano, Rob Fender, Elena M. Rossi, S. Komossa, Adam Ingram, James Miller-Jones, Matthew J. Middleton, Vanessa McBride, Christian Knigge, T. Shahbaz, M. Diaz Trigo, M. M. Kotze, Thomas J. Maccarone, Jörn Wilms, B. Warner, P. Jonker, J. Malzac, P. A. Charles, J. Greiner, G. R. Sivakoff, Steven Tingay, K. Wiersema, G. E. Anderson, Makoto Uemura, Nanda Rea, F. Fürst, Masaomi Tanaka, P. Ferruit, S. Carey, A. Lohfink, E. Bozzo, Poshak Gandhi, Phil Uttley, Belinda Jane Wilkes, D. Bhattacharya, G. L. Israel, M. Page, and High Energy Astrophys. & Astropart. Phys (API, FNWI)

Subjects
Physics, High energy, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Multi wavelength, 01 natural sciences, Field (computer science), Observational astronomy, White paper, Pulsar, Space and Planetary Science, 0103 physical sciences, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Abstract

Whilst astronomy as a science is historically founded on observations at optical wavelengths, studying the Universe in other bands has yielded remarkable discoveries, from pulsars in the radio, signatures of the Big Bang at submm wavelengths, through to high energy emission from accreting, gravitationally-compact objects and the discovery of gamma-ray bursts. Unsurprisingly, the result of combining multiple wavebands leads to an enormous increase in diagnostic power, but powerful insights can be lost when the sources studied vary on timescales shorter than the temporal separation between observations in different bands. In July 2015, the workshop "Paving the way to simultaneous multi-wavelength astronomy" was held as a concerted effort to address this at the Lorentz Center, Leiden. It was attended by 50 astronomers from diverse fields as well as the directors and staff of observatories and spaced-based missions. This community white paper has been written with the goal of disseminating the findings of that workshop by providing a concise review of the field of multi-wavelength astronomy covering a wide range of important source classes, the problems associated with their study and the solutions we believe need to be implemented for the future of observational astronomy. We hope that this paper will both stimulate further discussion and raise overall awareness within the community of the issues faced in a developing, important field., Comment: 52 pages, 15 figures, accepted, invited review (to appear in New Astronomy Reviews), v3: updated figure and text

Published
2017
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14. In-flight calibration system of Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer

Author

John Rankin, Paolo Soffitta, Carlo Lefevre, Raffaele Piazzolla, Riccardo Ferrazzoli, Brian D. Ramsey, Ajay Ratheesh, Enrico Costa, Francesco Maita, Fei Xie, I. Donnarumma, Fabio La Monaca, Alda Rubini, Antonino Tobia, Sergio Fabiani, Daniele Brienza, Fabio Muleri, Paolo Sarra, Pasqualino Loffredo, Luca Maiolo, Alfredo Morbidini, Giuseppe Di Persio, Fabrizio Amici, Alessandro Di Marco, and Ettore Del Monte

Subjects
Photon, Astronomy, Instrumentation, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Polarimetry, FOS: Physical sciences, 01 natural sciences, 010309 optics, Optics, 0103 physical sciences, Calibration, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), polarimetry, Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Spacecraft, Interaction point, business.industry, radioactive sources, Mechanical Engineering, Detector, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, calibration, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Space and Planetary Science, Control and Systems Engineering, X-Ray, Satellite, business, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astronomy, instrumentation
Abstract

The NASA/ASI Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer, which will be launched in 2021, will be the first instrument to perform spatially resolved X-ray polarimetry on several astronomical sources in the 2-8 keV energy band. These measurements are made possible owing to the use of a gas pixel detector (GPD) at the focus of three X-ray telescopes. The GPD allows simultaneous measurements of the interaction point, energy, arrival time, and polarization angle of detected X-ray photons. The increase in sensitivity, achieved 40 years ago, for imaging and spectroscopy with the Einstein satellite will thus be extended to X-ray polarimetry for the first time. The characteristics of gas multiplication detectors are subject to changes over time. Because the GPD is a novel instrument, it is particularly important to verify its performance and stability during its mission lifetime. For this purpose, the spacecraft hosts a filter and calibration set (FCS), which includes both polarized and unpolarized calibration sources for performing in-flight calibration of the instruments. In this study, we present the design of the flight models of the FCS and the first measurements obtained using silicon drift detectors and CCD cameras, as well as those obtained in thermal vacuum with the flight units of the GPD. We show that the calibration sources successfully assess and verify the functionality of the GPD and validate its scientific results in orbit; this improves our knowledge of the behavior of these detectors in X-ray polarimetry., Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures, published on Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems

Published
2020
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15. AGILESim: Monte Carlo Simulation of the AGILE Gamma-Ray Telescope

Author

A. Rappoldi, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, I. Donnarumma, A. W. Chen, Alessio Aboudan, M. Galli, S. Sabatini, Francesco Longo, N. Parmiggiani, Valentina Fioretti, A. Giuliani, Marco Tavani, Martino Marisaldi, P. W. Cattaneo, Fioretti, V., Bulgarelli, A., Tavani, M., Sabatini, S., Aboudan, A., Argan, A., Cattaneo, P. W., Chen, A. W., Donnarumma, I., Longo, F., Galli, M., Giuliani, A., Marisaldi, M., Parmiggiani, N., and Rappoldi, A.

Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Pipeline (computing), Gamma-ray telescopes, Monte Carlo method, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy simulations, 01 natural sciences, Astronomical instrumentation, Computational science, Spitzer Space Telescope, 0103 physical sciences, Angular resolution, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Physics, Detector, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Kalman filter, Astronomical simulations, Space and Planetary Science, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Energy (signal processing), Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Abstract

The accuracy of Monte Carlo simulations in reproducing the scientific performance of space telescopes (e.g. angular resolution) is mandatory for a correct design of the mission. A brand-new Monte Carlo simulator of the Astrorivelatore Gamma ad Immagini LEggero (AGILE)/Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) space telescope, AGILESim, is built using the customizable Bologna Geant4 Multi-Mission Simulator (BoGEMMS) architecture and the latest Geant4 library to reproduce the instrument performance of the AGILE/GRID instrument. The Monte Carlo simulation output is digitized in the BoGEMMS postprocessing pipeline, according to the instrument electronic read-out logic, then converted into the onboard data handling format, and finally analyzed by the standard mission on-ground reconstruction pipeline, including the Kalman filter, as a real observation in space. In this paper we focus on the scientific validation of AGILESim, performed by reproducing (i) the conversion efficiency of the tracker planes, (ii) the tracker charge readout distribution measured by the on-ground assembly, integration, and verification activity, and (iii) the point-spread function of in-flight observations of the Vela pulsar in the 100 MeV - 1 GeV energy range. We measure an in-flight angular resolution (FWHM) for Vela-like point sources of $2.0^{+0.2}_{-0.3}$ and $0.8^{+0.1}_{-0.1}$ degrees in the 100 - 300 and 300 - 1000 MeV energy bands, respectively. The successful cross-comparison of the simulation results with the AGILE on-ground and in-space performance validates the BoGEMMS framework for its application to future gamma-ray trackers (e.g. e-ASTROGAM and AMEGO).

Published
2020

16. AGILE Observations of Two Repeating Fast Radio Bursts with Low Intrinsic Dispersion Measures

Author

A. Pellizzoni, E. Costa, M. Tavani, A. Ursi, A. Giuliani, Martino Marisaldi, G. Piano, A. Morselli, M. Pilia, A. Ferrari, C. Casentini, F. Longo, F. Fuschino, A. Argan, P. W. Cattaneo, M. Feroci, Andrea Bulgarelli, L. A. Antonelli, G. Barbiellini, N. Parmiggiani, F. Paoletti, P. A. Caraveo, M. Cardillo, I. Donnarumma, F. Lazzarotto, A. W. Chen, Claudio Labanti, M. Galli, F. Verrecchia, Francesco Lucarelli, C. Pittori, S. Vercellone, P. Lipari, Casentini, C., Verrecchia, F., Tavani, M., Ursi, A., Antonelli, L. A., Argan, A., Barbiellini, G., Bulgarelli, A., Caraveo, P., Cardillo, M., Cattaneo, P. W., Chen, A., Costa, E., Donnarumma, I., Feroci, M., Ferrari, A., Fuschino, F., Galli, M., Giuliani, A., Labanti, C., Lazzarotto, F., Lipari, P., Longo, F., Lucarelli, F., Marisaldi, M., Morselli, A., Paoletti, F., Parmiggiani, N., Pellizzoni, A., Piano, G., Pilia, M., Pittori, C., and Vercellone, S.

Subjects
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, Radio transient sources, Millisecond, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astrophysics, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Magnetar, Gamma-ray transient sources, Luminosity, X-ray transient, Fast radio bursts, Gamma-ray Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science, Dispersion (optics), Magnetars, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Energy (signal processing), Isotropic energy, Fast radio burst
Abstract

We focus on two repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs) recently detected by the CHIME/FRB experiment in 2018--2019 (Source 1: 180916.J0158+65, and Source 2: 181030.J1054+73). These sources have low excess dispersion measures (DMs) ($ < 100 \rm \, pc \, cm^{-3}$ and $ < 20 \rm \, pc \, cm^{-3}$, respectively), implying relatively small maximal distances. They were repeatedly observed by AGILE in the MeV--GeV energy range. We do not detect prompt emission simultaneously with these repeating events. This search is particularly significant for the submillisecond and millisecond integrations obtainable by AGILE. The sources are constrained to emit a MeV-fluence in the millisecond range below $F'_{MeV} = 10^{-8} \, \rm erg \, cm^{-2}$ corresponding to an isotropic energy near $E_{MeV,UL} \simeq 2 \times 10^{46}\,$erg for a distance of 150 Mpc (applicable to Source 1). We also searched for $\gamma$-ray emission for time intervals up to 100 days, obtaining 3$\,\sigma$ upper limits (ULs) for the average isotropic luminosity above 50 MeV, $L_{\gamma,UL} \simeq \,$(5-10)$\,\times 10^{43} \rm \, erg \, s^{-1}$. For a source distance near 100 kpc (possibly applicable to Source 2), our ULs imply $E_{MeV,UL}\simeq10^{40} \rm erg$, and $L_{\gamma,UL} \simeq \,$2$\,\times 10^{37} \rm \, erg \, s^{-1}$. Our results are significant in constraining the high-energy emission of underlying sources such as magnetars, or other phenomena related to extragalactic compact objects, and show the prompt emission to be lower than the peak of the 2004 magnetar outburst of SGR 1806-20 for source distances less than about 100 Mpc., Comment: to be published in ApJL

Published
2020

17. AGILE and Konus-Wind Observations of GRB 190114C: The Remarkable Prompt and Early Afterglow Phases

Author

R. Aptekar, Francesco Lucarelli, V. Vittorini, F. Paoletti, Dmitry S. Svinkin, M. Feroci, C. Pittori, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, M. Romani, D. Frederiks, P. A. Caraveo, F. Fuschino, P. W. Cattaneo, A. Tsvetkova, F. Lazzarotto, G. Piano, Martino Marisaldi, N. Parmiggiani, A. Morselli, F. Longo, M. Pilia, M. Cardillo, C. Casentini, E. Costa, Arnaud Ferrari, M. Tavani, A. Ursi, M. Galli, F. Verrecchia, A. Giuliani, G. Barbiellini, Claudio Labanti, A. Trois, L. A. Antonelli, A. W. Chen, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, S. Vercellone, Ursi, A., Tavani, M., Frederiks, D. D., Romani, M., Verrecchia, F., Marisaldi, M., Aptekar, R. L., Antonelli, L. A., Argan, A., Bulgarelli, A., Barbiellini, G., Caraveo, P., Cardillo, M., Casentini, C., Cattaneo, P. W., Chen, A., Costa, E., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Feroci, M., Ferrari, A., Fuschino, F., Galli, M., Giuliani, A., Labanti, C., Lazzarotto, F., Longo, F., Lucarelli, F., Morselli, A., Paoletti, F., Parmiggiani, N., Piano, G., Pilia, M., Pittori, C., Svinkin, D. S., Trois, A., Tsvetkova, A. E., Vercellone, S., and Vittorini, V.

Subjects
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Flux, Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Gamma-ray transient sources, 0103 physical sciences, Radiative transfer, Gamma-ray transient sources (1853), Adiabatic process, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Physics, Gamma-ray astronomy, Gamma-ray astronomy (628), Astronomy and Astrophysics, Spectral component, Afterglow, Space and Planetary Science, Gamma-ray bursts (629), Gamma-ray bursts, Gamma-ray burst, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Abstract

GRB 190114C represents a breakthrough for the physics of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), being the first GRB with delayed emission above 300 GeV, as reported by MAGIC. We present in this paper the sub-MeV/MeV data of the prompt and early afterglow emissions of GRB 190114C, as detected by AGILE and Konus-Wind, in the 20 keV-100 MeV energy range. The first stages of the burst exhibit multiple emission components, associated with an interesting spectral evolution. The first 2 s of the prompt emission can be described by a single "Band-like" spectral component. The successive 4 s show the presence of an additional high-energy spectral component, which quickly evolves into a "hard-flat" component of the νFν spectrum, extending up to 10-100 MeV and likely produced by inverse Compton radiation, whose onset and evolution are clearly shown in our data. After this phase, the νFν spectrum evolves into a "V shape," showing the persistence and spectral hardening of the additional high-energy component in substantial agreement with Fermi and Swift results. We also analyze the first ∼200 s of the early afterglow that show a reflaring episode near T0 + 15 s. We identify a new, so-far-unnoticed flux temporal break near T0 + 100 s, which is detected in hard X-rays by both Konus-Wind and INTEGRAL/SPI-ACS. We find this break incompatible with the commonly assumed adiabatic evolution of a fireball in a constant-density medium. We interpret this break as a consequence of radiative evolution of the early afterglow from a fireball expanding in a wind-like circumburst medium.

Published
2020
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18. AGILE, Fermi, Swift, and GASP/WEBT multi-wavelength observations of the high-redshift blazar 4C +71.07 in outburst

Author

Andrea Bulgarelli, P. Romano, S. Vercellone, Carolina Casadio, Anne Lähteenmäki, Boyko Mihov, A. Strigachev, Emilia Järvelä, C. Pittori, G. A. Borman, F. Paoletti, Marco Tavani, José L. Gómez, Sergio Colafrancesco, U. Bach, V. Vittorini, I. Donnarumma, Valeri M. Larionov, Fabrizio Lucarelli, V. T. Doroshenko, J. A. Acosta-Pulido, Valentina Fioretti, L. Slavcheva-Mihova, Simona Righini, P. W. Cattaneo, E. N. Kopatskaya, O. M. Kurtanidze, C. M. Raiteri, S. A. Klimanov, M. Villata, Francesco Longo, M. S. Butuzova, F. D'Ammando, N. V. Efimova, F. Verrecchia, S. V. Nazarov, Evgeni Semkov, R. Bachev, M. I. Carnerero, D. O. Mirzaqulov, Sergey S. Savchenko, T. S. Grishina, G. Damljanovic, A. Morselli, A. Di Paola, M. Orienti, P. Munar-Adrover, L. V. Larionova, Marcello Giroletti, Sol N. Molina, Sh. A. Ehgamberdiev, D. A. Morozova, G. Piano, Merja Tornikoski, Arkady A. Arkharov, O. Vince, N. Parmiggiani, Yu. V. Troitskaya, I. Agudo, Vercellone, S., Romano, P., Piano, G., Vittorini, V., Donnarumma, I., Munar-Adrover, P., Raiteri, C. M., Villata, M., Verrecchia, F., Lucarelli, F., Pittori, C., Bulgarelli, A., Fioretti, V., Tavani, M., Acosta-Pulido, J. A., Agudo, I., Arkharov, A. A., Bach, U., Bachev, R., Borman, G. A., Butuzova, M. S., Carnerero, M. I., Casadio, C., Damljanovic, G., D'Ammando, F., Di Paola, A., Doroshenko, V. T., Efimova, N. V., Ehgamberdiev, S. A., Giroletti, M., Gómez, J. L., Grishina, T. S., Järvelä, E., Klimanov, S. A., Kopatskaya, E. N., Kurtanidze, O. M., Lähteenmäki, A., Larionov, V. M., Larionova, L. V., Mihov, B., Mirzaqulov, D. O., Molina, S. N., Morozova, D. A., Nazarov, S. V., Orienti, M., Righini, S., Savchenko, S. S., Semkov, E., Slavcheva-Mihova, L., Strigachev, A., Tornikoski, M., Troitskaya, Y. V., Vince, O., Cattaneo, P. W., Colafrancesco, S., Longo, F., Morselli, A., Paoletti, F., Parmiggiani, N., ITA, Academy of Sciences Republic of Uzbekistan, Russian Science Foundation, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (España), Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development (Serbia), Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Osservatorio Astronomico Roma, ASI Science Data Center, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Osservatorio Astronomico di Torino, INAF/IASF Bologna, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, CSIC, RAS - Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, University of Belgrade, Universita di Bologna, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, St. Petersburg State University, Metsähovi Radio Observatory, Georgian National Academy of Sciences, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), University of the Witwatersrand, Università Degli Studi di Trieste, Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering, Aalto-yliopisto, and Aalto University

Subjects
Galaxies [Gamma rays], Acceleration of particles, Relativistic processe, Radiation mechanisms: non-thermal, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Supermassive black holes [Quasars], FOS: Physical sciences, Galaxie [Gamma rays], Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics, 7. Clean energy, 01 natural sciences, law.invention, law, 0103 physical sciences, Gamma rays: Galaxies, Quasars: Individual: 4C +71.07, Quasars: Supermassive black holes, Relativistic processes, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science, Blazar, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, non-thermal [Radiation mechanisms], 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Order (ring theory), Quasar, Astronomy and Astrophysic, Acceleration of particle, Redshift, Supermassive black hole [Quasars], Spectral energy distribution, Individual: 4C +71.07 [Quasars], Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Energy (signal processing), Flare, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Abstract

Context. The flat-spectrum radio quasar 4C +71.07 is a high-redshift (z = 2.172), γ-loud blazar whose optical emission is dominated by thermal radiation from the accretion disc. Aims. 4C +71.07 has been detected in outburst twice by the AGILE γ-ray satellite during the period from the end of October to mid-November 2015, when it reached a γ-ray flux of the order of F(E > 100 MeV)=(1.2 ± 0.3)×10 photons cm s and F(E > 100 MeV)=(3.1 ± 0.6)×10 photons cm s, respectively, allowing us to investigate the properties of the jet and the emission region. Methods. We investigated its spectral energy distribution by means of almost-simultaneous observations covering the cm, mm, near-infrared, optical, ultraviolet, X-ray, and γ-ray energy bands obtained by the GASP-WEBT Consortium and the Swift, AGILE, and Fermi satellites. Results. The spectral energy distribution of the second γ-ray flare (whose energy coverage is more dense) can be modelled by means of a one-zone leptonic model, yielding a total jet power of about 4 × 10 erg s. Conclusions. During the most prominent γ-ray flaring period our model is consistent with a dissipation region within the broad-line region. Moreover, this class of high-redshift, flat-spectrum radio quasars with high-mass black holes might be good targets for future γ-ray satellites such as e-ASTROGAM. © ESO 2019., AGILE is an ASI space mission developed with programmatic support by INAF and INFN. We acknowledge partial support through the ASI grant no. I/028/12/0. SV and PR acknowledge contract ASI-INAF I/004/11/0 and INAF/IASF Palermo where most of the work was carried out. SV acknowledges financial contribution from the agreement ASI-INAF no. 2017-14-H.0. Part of this work is based on archival data, software, or online services provided by the ASI SPACE SCIENCE DATA CENTER (ASI-SSDC). SV and PR thank Leonardo Barzaghi and Sara Baitieri for useful discussions. The Osservatorio di Torino team acknowledges the financial contribution from the agreement ASI-INAF No. 2017-14-H.0 and from the contract PRIN-SKA-CTA-INAF 2016. OMK acknowledges financial support from the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation under contract FR/217950/16 and grants NSFC11733001, NSFCU1531245. IA acknowledges support from a Ramón y Cajal grant of the Ministerio de Economía y Compet-itividad (MINECO) of Spain. The research at the IAA–CSIC was supported in part by the MINECO through grants AYA2016–80889–P, AYA2013–40825–P, and AYA2010–14844, and by the regional government of Andalucía through grant P09–FQM–4784. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany), and IGN (Spain). Calar Alto Observatory is jointly operated by the MPIA and the IAA-CSIC. This research was partially supported by the Bulgarian National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science under grant DN 08-1/2016. The St. Petersburg University team acknowledges support from Russian Science Foundation grant 17-12-01029. AZT-24 observations are made within an agreement among the Pulkovo, Rome, and Teramo observatories. GD and OV gratefully acknowledge the observing grant support from the Institute of Astronomy and Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory, Bulgaria Academy of Sciences, via bilateral joint research project “Observations of ICRF radio-sources visible in optical domain” (PI G. Damljanovic). This work is a part of Project No. 176011 (“Dynamics and kinematics of celestial bodies and systems”), No. 176004 (“Stellar physics”) and No. 176021 (“Visible and invisible matter in nearby galaxies: theory and observations”) supported by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia. The Maidanak Observatory team acknowledges support from Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences grants No. F2-FA-F027 and F.4-16.

Published
2019

19. Second AGILE catalogue of gamma-ray sources

Author

Fulvio Gianotti, L. Baroncelli, N. Parmiggiani, Maura Pilia, Fabrizio Lucarelli, Alessio Trois, A. W. Chen, M. Giusti, A. Rappoldi, F. Verrecchia, I. Donnarumma, S. Vercellone, M. Trifoglio, A. Argan, A. Pellizzoni, Andrea Bulgarelli, A. Giuliani, M. Tavani, P. W. Cattaneo, Valentina Fioretti, Paolo Giommi, Louis Antonelli, M. Cardillo, Alessio Aboudan, G. Piano, Francesco Longo, Andrea Zoli, C. Pittori, ITA, Bulgarelli, A., Fioretti, V., Parmiggiani, N., Verrecchia, F., Pittori, C., Lucarelli, F., Tavani, M., Aboudan, A., Cardillo, M., Giuliani, A., Cattaneo, P. W., Chen, A. W., Piano, G., Rappoldi, A., Baroncelli, L., Argan, A., Antonelli, L. A., Donnarumma, I., Gianotti, F., Giommi, P., Giusti, M., Longo, F., Pellizzoni, A., Pilia, M., Trifoglio, M., Trois, A., Vercellone, S., and Zoli, A.

Subjects
Physics, Active galactic nucleus, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Spectral properties, Gamma rays: general, general [Gamma rays], Gamma ray, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astrophysics, Surveys, Light curve, 01 natural sciences, Supernova, Pulsar, Space and Planetary Science, 0103 physical sciences, Catalogs, Catalog, Blazar, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Event reconstruction
Abstract

Aims: We present the second AGILE-GRID catalogue (2AGL) of γ-ray sources in the energy range 100 MeV-10 GeV. Methods: With respect to previous AGILE-GRID catalogues, the current 2AGL catalogue is based on the first 2.3 years of science data from the AGILE mission (the so-called pointing mode) and incorporates more data and several analysis improvements, including better calibrations at the event reconstruction level, an updated model for the Galactic diffuse γ-ray emission, a refined procedure for point-like source detection, and the inclusion of a search for extended γ-ray sources. Results: The 2AGL catalogue includes 175 high-confidence sources (above 4σ significance) with their location regions and spectral properties and a variability analysis with four-day light curves for the most significant. Relying on the error region of each source position, including systematic uncertainties, 122 sources are considered as positionally associated with known counterparts at different wavelengths or detected by other γ-ray instruments. Among the identified or associated sources, 62 are active galactic nuclei (AGNs) of the blazar class. Pulsars represent the largest Galactic source class, with 41 associated pulsars, 7 of which have detected pulsation; 8 supernova remnants and 4 high-mass X-ray binaries have also been identified. A substantial number of 2AGL sources are unidentified: for 53 sources no known counterpart is found at different wavelengths. Among these sources, we discuss a subclass of 29 AGILE-GRID-only γ-ray sources that are not present in 1FGL, 2FGL, or 3FGL catalogues; the remaining sources are unidentified in both 2AGL and 3FGL catalogues. We also present an extension of the analysis of 2AGL sources detected in the energy range 50-100 MeV. Full Tables 10 and 11 (the catalog) are only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/627/A13

Published
2019

20. Gamma-ray blazars: The view from AGILE

Author

Filippo D'Ammando, F. Longo, P. Romano, Marco Tavani, Andrea Bulgarelli, S. Vercellone, Luigi Pacciani, C. M. Raiteri, Stefano Covino, V. Vittorini, E. Striani, Hans A. Krimm, A. W. Chen, M. Villata, G. Pucella, I. Donnarumma, A. Giuliani, F., D'Ammando, A., Bulgarelli, A. W., Chen, I., Donnarumma, A., Giuliani, Longo, Francesco, L., Pacciani, G., Pucella, E., Striani, M., Tavani, S., Vercellone, V., Vittorini, S., Covino, H. A., Krimm, C. M., Raiteri, P., Romano, M., Villata, DAmmando F, Bulgarelli A, Chen AW, Donnarumma I, Giuliani A, Longo F, Pacciani L, Pucella G, Striani E, Tavani M, Vercellone S, Vittorini V, Covino S, Krimm HA, Raiteri CM, Romano P, and Villata M

Subjects
Atmospheric Science, Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO), Active galactic nucleus, FOS: Physical sciences, Aerospace Engineering, Astrophysics, High Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, law.invention, Telescope, Gamma-ray sources, Quasars, Active galactic nuclei, BL Lac objects, Blazars, law, MAGIC (telescope), Blazar, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, Detector, Gamma ray, Astronomy, Active Galactic Nuclei, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Quasar, Geophysics, Space and Planetary Science, General Earth and Planetary Sciences, Satellite, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Abstract

During the first 3 years of operation the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector onboard the AGILE satellite detected several blazars in a high gamma-ray activity: 3C 279, 3C 454.3, PKS 1510-089, S5 0716+714, 3C 273, W Comae, Mrk 421, PKS 0537-441 and 4C +21.35. Thanks to the rapid dissemination of our alerts, we were able to obtain multiwavelength data from other observatories such as Spitzer, Swift, RXTE, Suzaku, INTEGRAL, MAGIC, VERITAS, and ARGO as well as radio-to-optical coverage by means of the GASP Project of the WEBT and the REM Telescope. This large multifrequency coverage gave us the opportunity to study the variability correlations between the emission at different frequencies and to obtain simultaneous spectral energy distributions of these sources from radio to gamma-ray energy bands, investigating the different mechanisms responsible for their emission and uncovering in some cases a more complex behaviour with respect to the standard models. We present a review of the most interesting AGILE results on these gamma-ray blazars and their multifrequency data., Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication on Advances in Space Research. Talk presented at the 38th COSPAR Scientific Assembly (Bremen, Germany; July 18-25, 2010)

Published
2011
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21. Room-temperature spectroscopic performance of a very-large area silicon drift detector

Author

Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, Claudio Labanti, Martino Marisaldi, Fabio Muleri, Paolo Soffitta, Giuseppe Baldazzi, V. Bonvicini, A. Vacchi, Marco Grassi, Riccardo Campana, M. Mastropietro, E. Del Monte, F. Fuschino, Francesco Lazzarotto, Enrico Costa, Massimo Rapisarda, Piero Malcovati, Alexander Rashevsky, Alda Rubini, L. Picolli, Ennio Morelli, N. Zampa, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, G. Zampa, G. Zampa, R. Campana, M. Feroci, A. Vacchi, V. Bonvicini, E. Del Monte, Y. Evangelista, F. Fuschino, C. Labanti, M. Marisaldi, F. Muleri, L. Pacciani, M. Rapisarda, A. Rashevsky, A. Rubini, P. Soffitta, N. Zampa, G. Baldazzi, E. Costa, I. Donnarumma, M. Grassi, F. Lazzarotto, P. Malcovati, M. Mastropietro, E. Morelli, and L. Picolli

Subjects
Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, X-ray spectroscopy, Silicon, Silicon drift detector, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, business.industry, Detector, X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY, chemistry.chemical_element, ROOM TEMPERATURE, Signal, Anode, Full width at half maximum, Optics, chemistry, Optoelectronics, SILICON DRIFT DETECTORS, Spectroscopy, business, Instrumentation
Abstract

Silicon drift detectors (SDD) of small dimensions (up to 1 cm 2 ) have been successfully employed in X-ray spectroscopy due to their small anode geometry, which allows to minimize the electronic noise due to the readout device. Many applications, however, require large sensitive areas to be covered (e.g. X-ray astronomy), so that these detectors are effectively impractical. We present the spectroscopic performance of a 53 cm 2 sensitive area, multi-anode SDD, measured at room temperature using an eight-channel readout setup. The measurements, taken using 55 Fe and 241 Am sources, and X-ray tubes generating energies down to 2 keV, show energy resolutions in the range 290–570 eV FWHM, at 20 °C, depending on the number of anodes collecting the signal. Further developments we are carrying out could improve the detector characteristics and allow to approach the performance of small area SDDs.

Published
2011
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22. Preliminary results on TeV sources search with AGILE

Author

F. Perotti, E. Striani, Claudio Labanti, Sandro Mereghetti, C. Pittori, M. Trifoglio, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, L. Salotti, Enrico Costa, Elena Moretti, G. De Paris, Francesco Lazzarotto, S. Colafrancesco, A. Rappoldi, Francesco Longo, Geiland Porrovecchio, Ennio Morelli, P. Picozza, V. Cocco, A. W. Chen, Massimo Rapisarda, A. Pellizzoni, S. Vercellone, P. Giommi, Arnaud Ferrari, G. Di Cocco, Marco Tavani, D. Zanello, E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, S. Sabatini, V. Vittorini, Y. Evangelista, M. Prest, Martino Marisaldi, A. Zambra, E. Vallazza, A. Giuliani, F. Boffelli, T. Froysland, M. Fiorini, Paolo Soffitta, P. A. Caraveo, M. Mastropietro, Guido Barbiellini, P. Santolamazza, M. Galli, F. Verrecchia, Alda Rubini, P. W. Cattaneo, I. Lapshov, F. Fuschino, Paolo Lipari, A. Morselli, F. D’ Ammando, G. Piano, M. Pilia, G. Pucella, Fulvio Gianotti, Alessio Trois, A., Rappoldi, Longo, Francesco, A., Argan, G., Barbiellini, F., Boffelli, A., Bulgarelli, P., Caraveo, P. W., Cattaneo, A. W., Chen, V., Cocco, S., Colafrancesco, E., Costa, Ammando, F., Paris, G., Monte, E., Cocco, G., I., Donnarumma, Y., Evangelista, A., Ferrari, M., Feroci, M., Fiorini, T., Froysland, F., Fuschino, M., Galli, F., Gianotti, P., Giommi, A., Giuliani, C., Labanti, I., Lapshov, F., Lazzarotto, P., Lipari, M., Marisaldi, M., Mastropietro, S., Mereghetti, E., Morelli, E., Moretti, A., Morselli, L., Pacciani, A., Pellizzoni, F., Perotti, G., Piano, P., Picozza, M., Pilia, C., Pittori, G., Porrovecchio, M., Prest, G., Pucella, M., Rapisarda, A., Rubini, S., Sabatini, L., Salotti, P., Santolamazza, P., Soffitta, E., Striani, M., Tavani, M., Trifoglio, A., Troi, E., Vallazza, F., Verrecchia, S., Vercellone, V., Vittorini, A., Zambra, and D., Zanello

Subjects
Physics, Very High Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, High Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, business.industry, AGILe, gamma ray sky, TeV source, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, media_common.quotation_subject, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astronomy, Astrophysics, Sky, Milagro, Satellite, MAGIC (telescope), business, Instrumentation, Agile software development, media_common
Abstract

During its first 2 years of operation, the gamma-ray AGILE satellite almost completed a full study of the gamma-ray sky. This paper presents the preliminary results of the systematic study performed on the AGILE data to search for GeV counterparts and to derive flux upper limits of the TeV sources detected by various instruments (MAGIC, HESS, VERITAS, Cangaroo, MILAGRO, ARGO, … .).

Published
2011
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23. The observation of gamma ray bursts and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes with AGILE

Author

Paolo Lipari, B. Preger, Francesco Longo, S. Sabatini, C. Pittori, Fulvio Gianotti, E. Vallazza, Andrea Bulgarelli, F. Fuschino, Enrico Costa, F. Verrecchia, P. Picozza, Maura Pilia, G. Piano, M. Trifoglio, S. Vercellone, I. Donnarumma, M. Prest, Alessio Trois, G. Pucella, G. Di Cocco, F. Boffelli, S. Cutini, A. W. Chen, Paolo Soffitta, M. Gallil, E. Striani, P. A. Caraveo, Y. Evangelista, Francesco Lazzarotto, P. Santolamazza, Massimo Rapisarda, F. Perotti, I. Lapshov, Giacomo Vianello, Claudio Labanti, A. Morselli, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, L. Salotti, P. W. Cattaneo, Paolo Giommi, Elena Moretti, A. Pellizzoni, Sandro Mereghetti, A. Rappoldi, A. Giuliani, Guido Barbiellini, V. Vittorini, Martino Marisaldi, L. A. Antonelli, Marco Tavani, E. Del Monte, E., Del Monte, G., Barbiellini, F., Fuschino, A., Giuliani, Longo, Francesco, M., Marisaldi, S., Mereghetti, E., Moretti, M., Trifoglio, G., Vianello, E., Costa, I., Donnarumma, Y., Evangelista, M., Feroci, M., Gallil, I., Lapshov, F., Lazzarotto, P., Lipari, L., Pacciani, M., Rapisarda, P., Soffitta, M., Tavani, S., Vercellone, S., Cutini, F., Boffelli, A., Bulgarelli, P., Caraveo, P. W., Cattaneo, A., Chen, Cocco, G., F., Gianotti, C., Labanti, A., Morselli, A., Pellizzoni, F., Perotti, G., Piano, P., Picozza, M., Pilia, M., Prest, G., Pucella, A., Rappoldi, S., Sabatini, E., Striani, A., Troi, E., Vallazza, V., Vittorini, L. A., Antonelli, C., Pittori, B., Preger, P., Santolamazza, F., Verrecchia, P., Giommi, and L., Salotti

Subjects
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes, High-energy astronomy, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Gamma ray, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy, Field of view, AGILE, gamma ray bursts, short gamma transient, silicon tracker, Astrophysics, Statistical Confidence, Gamma-ray Bursts, Gamma-ray Burst, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Gamma-ray burst, Instrumentation, Silicon microstrip detectors, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Abstract

Since its early phases of operation, the AGILE mission is successfully observing Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) in the hard X-ray band with the SuperAGILE imager and in the MeV range with the Mini-Calorimeter. Up to now, three firm GRB detections were obtained above 25 MeV and some bursts were detected with lower statistical confidence in the same energy band. When a GRB is localized, either by SuperAGILE or Swift/BAT or INTEGRAL/IBIS or Fermi/GBM or IPN, inside the field of view of the Gamma Ray Imager of AGILE, a detection is searched for in the gamma ray band or an upper limit is provided. A promising result of AGILE is the detection of very short gamma ray transients, a few ms in duration and possibly identified with Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes. In this paper we show the current status of the observation of Gamma Ray Bursts and Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes with AGILE., Four pages and four figures

Published
2011
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24. The Bright γ-ray Flare of 3C 279 in 2015 June: AGILE Detection and Multifrequency Follow-up Observations

Author

Alan P. Marscher, F. Verrecchia, E. N. Kopatskaya, Lorand A. Sigua, O. M. Kurtanidze, A. Morselli, Andrea Bulgarelli, M. Villata, F. Paoletti, P. W. Cattaneo, I. Donnarumma, Paolo Giommi, H. Y. Hsiao, C. Pittori, M. I. Carnerero, D. O. Mirzaqulov, Valeri M. Larionov, J. A. Acosta-Pulido, C. M. Raiteri, Sh. A. Ehgamberdiev, David Hiriart, L. V. Larionova, F. Longo, L. O. Takalo, Fabrizio Lucarelli, S. Vercellone, A. Strigachev, T. S. Grishina, V. Vittorini, Manash R. Samal, D. Carosati, Sofia O. Kurtanidze, G. A. Borman, Kari Nilsson, Givi N. Kimeridze, A. Goded, Marco Tavani, Wen Ping Chen, B. Spassov, M. Perri, S. Colafrancesco, Erika Benítez, Louis Antonelli, Svetlana G. Jorstad, D. A. Morozova, Simonetta Puccetti, Rumen Bachev, ITA, Pittori, C., Lucarelli, F., Verrecchia, F., Raiteri, C. M., Villata, M., Vittorini, V., Tavani, M., Puccetti, S., Perri, M., Donnarumma, I., Vercellone, S., Acosta-Pulido, J. A., Bachev, R., Benítez, E., Borman, G. A., Carnerero, M. I., Carosati, D., Chen, W. P., Ehgamberdiev, Sh. A., Goded, A., Grishina, T. S., Hiriart, D., Hsiao, H. Y., Jorstad, S. G., Kimeridze, G. N., Kopatskaya, E. N., Kurtanidze, O. M., Kurtanidze, S. O., Larionov, V. M., Larionova, L. V., Marscher, A. P., Mirzaqulov, D. O., Morozova, D. A., Nilsson, K., Samal, M. R., Sigua, L. A., Spassov, B., Strigachev, A., Takalo, L. O., Antonelli, L. A., Bulgarelli, A., Cattaneo, P., Colafrancesco, S., Giommi, P., Longo, F., Morselli, A., and Paoletti, and F.

Subjects
Physics, polarization, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, galaxies: active, Library science, Astronomy and Astrophysics, radiation mechanisms: non-thermal, non-thermal [radiation mechanisms], X-rays: general, 01 natural sciences, quasars: individual (3C 279), gamma rays: galaxies, Space and Planetary Science, Observatory, general [X-rays], active [galaxies], 0103 physical sciences, individual (3C 279) [quasars], Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, galaxie [gamma rays], Christian ministry, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics
Abstract

We would like to acknowledge the financial support of ASI under contract to INAF:ASI 2014-049-R.0 dedicated to SSDC. Part of this work is based on archival data, software, or online services provided by the ASI SSDC. The research at Boston University was supported by National Science Foundation grant AST-1615796 and NASA Swift Guest Investigator grant 80NSSC17K0309. This research was partially supported by the Bulgarian National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science under grant DN 08-1/2016. The Skinakas Observatory is a collaborative project of the University of Crete, the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, and the Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik. The St. Petersburg University team acknowledges support from Russian Science Foundation grant 17-12-01029. This article is partly based on observations made with the telescope IAC80 operated by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias in the Spanish Observatorio del Teide on the island of Tenerife. The IAC team acknowledges the support from the group of support astronomers and telescope operators of the Observatorio del Teide. Based (partly) on data obtained with the STELLA robotic telescopes in Tenerife, an AIP facility jointly operated by AIP and IAC. This work is partially based upon observations carried out at the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional on the Sierra San Pedro Martir (OAN-SPM), Baja California, Mexico. C.P., V.V. and M. T. also thank Professor A. Cavaliere for the insightful discussion. (INAF:ASI 2014-049-R.0 - ASI; AST-1615796 - National Science Foundation; 80NSSC17K0309 - NASA Swift Guest Investigator grant; DN 08-1/2016 - Bulgarian National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science; 17-12-01029 - Russian Science Foundation)

Published
2018

25. The e-ASTROGAM gamma-ray space observatory for the multimessenger astronomy of the 2030s

Author

Koji Nakazawa, F. Longo, A. Brogna, Andrei M. Bykov, J. Peyré, J. M. Paredes, A. A. Zdziarski, M. Hernanz, D. de Martino, Paolo De Coppi, Irfan Kuvvetli, M. Roncadelli, I. Donnarumma, A. De Angelis, I. Grenier, B. Patricelli, Vincent Tatischeff, G. Piano, Marco Tavani, Elisa Bernardini, M. Pohl, S. Ciprini, Carl Budtz-Jørgensen, Marco Ajello, P. von Ballmoos, J. Kiener, D. J. Thompson, Philippe Laurent, A. Aboudan, Jürgen Knödlseder, P. Cumani, Miriam Lucio Martinez, Lorraine Hanlon, Stefan Funk, Michele Doro, Martino Marisaldi, J. E. Grove, R. Rando, Gabriele Ghisellini, R. M. Curado da Silva, A. A. Moiseev, V. Bonvicini, Fabrizio Tavecchio, Julie McEnery, Gottfried Kanbach, A. Argan, Mark D. Leising, Roland Diehl, O. Limousin, Andrea Bulgarelli, Manuela Mallamaci, M. Cardillo, M. Branchesi, Xin Wu, A. Morselli, Sandro Mereghetti, Mark Pearce, R. Turolla, G. Minervini, R. Walter, C. Hamadache, Dieter H. Hartmann, Valentina Fioretti, Piotr Orleanski, A. Vacchi, A. Ulyanov, G. Ambrosi, Karl Mannheim, Ferdinando Giordano, D. Bernard, N. M. Mazziotta, Riccardo Campana, Uwe Oberlack, Jordi Isern, M. Hayashida, Andreas Zoglauer, Claudio Labanti, den Herder, Jan-Willem A., Nikzad, Shouleh, Nakazawa, Kazuhiro, Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière (CSNSM), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation (AIM (UMR_7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112)), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie (IRAP), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (LLR), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC (UMR_7164)), Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de Recherches sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris-Saclay, e-ASTROGAM, FRA, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), Astrophysique Interprétation Modélisation (AIM (UMR7158 / UMR_E_9005 / UM_112)), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Jan-Willem A. den Herder, Shouleh Nikzad, Kazuhiro Nakazawa, Tatischeff, V., De Angelis, A., Tavani, M., Grenier, I., Oberlack, U., Hanlon, L., Walter, R., Argan, A., Von Ballmoos, P., Bulgarelli, A., Donnarumma, I., Hernanz, M., Kuvvetli, I., Mallamaci, M., Pearce, M., Zdziarski, A., Aboudan, A., Ajello, M., Ambrosi, G., Bernard, D., Bernardini, E., Bonvicini, V., Brogna, A., Branchesi, M., Budtz-Jorgensen, C., Bykov, A., Campana, R., Cardillo, M., Ciprini, S., Coppi, P., Cumani, P., Curado Da Silva, R. M., De Martino, D., Diehl, R., Doro, M., Fioretti, V., Funk, S., Ghisellini, G., Grove, J. E., Giordano, F., Hamadache, C., Hartmann, D. H., Hayashida, M., Isern, J., Kanbach, G., Kiener, J., Knodlseder, J., Labanti, C., Laurent, P., Leising, M., Limousin, O., Longo, F., Mannheim, K., Marisaldi, M., Martinez, M., Mazziotta, N. M., Mcenery, J. E., Mereghetti, S., Minervini, G., Moiseev, A., Morselli, A., Nakazawa, K., Orleanski, P., Paredes, J. M., Patricelli, B., Peyre, J., Piano, G., Pohl, M., Rando, R., Roncadelli, M., Tavecchio, F., Thompson, D. J., Turolla, R., Ulyanov, A., Vacchi, A., Wu, X., Zoglauer, A., Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Observatoire de Paris, and PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)

Subjects
Cherenkov Telescope Array, High-energy astrophysical phenomena, Compton and pair creation telescope, Gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray polarization, high-energy astrophysical phenomena, space mission, time-domain astronomy, energy resolution, 7. Clean energy, 01 natural sciences, Space mission, law.invention, IceCube, Einstein Telescope, law, Observatory, LIGO, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, KM3NeT, Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Applied Mathematics, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Computer Science Applications1707 Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Gamma-ray polarization, Condensed Matter Physics, photon: energy, observatory, Nuclear astrophysics, Apace mission, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, performance, detector: technology, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, gamma ray: burst, Telescope, 0103 physical sciences, supernova, Electronic, calorimeter, gamma ray: detector, Optical and Magnetic Materials, KAGRA, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 010306 general physics, Time domain astronomy, LISA, Astronomy, Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Time-domain astronomy, sensitivity, messenger, VIRGO, 13. Climate action, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, ddc:520, galaxy, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]
Abstract

e-ASTROGAM is a concept for a breakthrough observatory space mission carrying a gamma-ray telescope dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.15 MeV to 3 GeV. The lower energy limit can be pushed down to energies as low as 30 keV for gamma-ray burst detection with the calorimeter. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with remarkable 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 and current 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 be a major player of the multiwavelength, multimessenger time-domain astronomy of the 2030s, and provide unique data of significant interest to a broad astronomical community, complementary to powerful observatories such as LISA, LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, the Einstein Telescope and the Cosmic Explorer, IceCube-Gen2 and KM3NeT, SKA, ALMA, JWST, E-ELT, LSST, Athena, and the Cherenkov Telescope Array., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures. Submitted to the proceedings of the conference SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 2018: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray. v2: corrections of authors' affiliations

Published
2018
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26. Calibration of AGILE-GRID with On-ground Data and Monte Carlo Simulations

Author

A. Argan, Francesco Lucarelli, Lina Quintieri, Andrea Bulgarelli, V. Cocco, M. Trifoglio, P. W. Cattaneo, L. Foggetta, M. Prest, A. Pellizzoni, A. Giuliani, F. Boffelli, N. Parmigiani, Valentina Fioretti, A. Zambra, F. D'Ammando, A. Morselli, M. Pilia, S. Sabatini, P. Valente, A. Rappoldi, C. Pittori, T. Froysland, M. Tavani, A. W. Chen, S. Vercellone, F. Longo, Bruno Buonomo, A. Trois, G. Pucella, M. Galli, F. Verrecchia, M. Cardillo, G. Mazzitelli, E. Vallazza, G. Barbiellini, S. Colafrancesco, Arnaud Ferrari, G. Piano, F. Fuschino, F. Gianotti, F. Paoletti, I. Donnarumma, Martino Marisaldi, ITA, USA, Pucella, G., Galli, M., Cattaneo, P. W., Rappoldi, A., Argan, A., Barbiellini, G., Boffelli, F., Bulgarelli, A., Buonomo, B., Cardillo, M., Chen, A. W., Cocco, V., Colafrancesco, S., D'Ammando, F., Donnarumma, I., Ferrari, A., Fioretti, V., Foggetta, L., Froysland, T., Fuschino, F., Gianotti, F., Giuliani, A., Longo, F., Lucarelli, F., Marisaldi, M., Mazzitelli, G., Morselli, A., Paoletti, F., Parmigiani, N., Pellizzoni, A., Piano, G., Pilia, M., Pittori, C., Prest, M., Quintieri, L., Sabatini, S., Tavani, M., Trifoglio, M., Trois, A., Valente, P., Vallazza, E., Vercellone, S., Verrecchia, F., and Zambra, A.

Subjects
Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, Calibration (statistics), astroparticle physics, instrumentation: detectors, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Monte Carlo method, FOS: Physical sciences, 01 natural sciences, 0103 physical sciences, Aerospace engineering, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Astroparticle physics, Physics, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, business.industry, detector [instrumentation], astroparticle physic, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysic, Grid, Space and Planetary Science, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, business, Agile software development
Abstract

AGILE is a mission of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) Scientific Program dedicated to gamma-ray astrophysics, operating in a low Earth orbit since April 23, 2007. It is designed to be a very light and compact instrument, capable of simultaneously detecting and imaging photons in the 18 keV to 60 keV X-ray energy band and in the 30 MeV{50 GeV gamma-ray energy with a good angular resolution (< 1 deg at 1 GeV). The core of the instrument is the Silicon Tracker complemented with a CsI calorimeter and a AntiCoincidence system forming the Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID). Before launch, the GRID needed on-ground calibration with a tagged gamma-ray beam to estimate its performance and validate the Monte Carlo simulation. The GRID was calibrated using a tagged gamma-ray beam with energy up to 500 MeV at the Beam Test Facilities at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati. These data are used to validate a GEANT3 based simulation by comparing the data and the Monte Carlo simulation by measuring the angular and energy resolutions. The GRID angular and energy resolutions obtained using the beam agree well with the Monte Carlo simulation. Therefore the simulation can be used to simulate the same performance on-light with high reliability., 19 page 12 figures

Published
2018

27. THE 2009 DECEMBER GAMMA-RAY FLARE OF 3C 454.3: THE MULTIFREQUENCY CAMPAIGN

Author

L. Salotti, E. Moretti, Mark Gurwell, C. Pittori, M. Tavani, S. Vercellone, V. Vittorini, F. Longo, T. Sakamoto, Martino Marisaldi, A. Morselli, M. Galli, P. Santolamazza, G. Barbiellini P. Caraveo, Elena Pian, C. M. Raiteri, M. Pilia, Francesco Lucarelli, A. Trois, A. Rubini, F. D'Ammando, F. Verrecchia, Michael C. Stroh, M. Prest, F. Perotti, Andrea Tiengo, E. Vallazza, P. W. Cattaneo, M. Feroci, Merja Tornikoski, M. Villata, L. Pacciani, P. Picozza, A. Pellizzoni, E. Costa, E. Del Monte, A. Rappoldi, M. Fiorini, Ryosuke Itoh, P. A. Curran, Masayuki Yamanaka, G. Pucella, F. Lazzarotto, Valeri M. Larionov, C. S. Lin, F. Gianotti, A. C. Sadun, A. Giuliani, V. Cocco, Arnaud Ferrari, P. Lipari, M. Trifoglio, M. Fiocchi, E. Morelli, Andrei Berdyugin, G. Piano, H. A. Krimm, Sandro Mereghetti, L. O. Takalo, A. D. Falcone, S. Colafrancesco, Claudio Labanti, D. Zanello, F. Fuschino, D. Fugazza, G. Di Cocco, M. Rapisarda, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, Makoto Uemura, P. Giommi, Anne Lähteenmäki, G. De Paris, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, P. Soffitta, A. W. Chen, Paolo Leto, Hugh D. Aller, E. Striani, Mahito Sasada, I. Lapshov, M. F. Aller, S. Sabatini, Pacciani L, Vittorini V, Tavani M, Fiocchi MT, Vercellone S, DAmmando F, Sakamoto T, Pian E, Raiteri CM, Villata M, Sasada M, Itoh R, Yamanaka M, Uemura M, Striani E, Fugazza D, Tiengo A, Krimm HA, Stroh MC, Falcone AD, Curran PA, Sadun AC, Lahteenmaki A, Tornikoski M, Aller HD, Aller MF, Lin CS, Larionov VM, Leto P, Takalo LO, Berdyugin A, Gurwell MA, Bulgarelli A, Chen AW, Donnarumma I, Giuliani A, Longo F, Pucella G, Argan A, Barbiellini G, Caraveo P, Cattaneo PW, Costa E, De Paris G, Del Monte E, Di Cocco G, Evangelista Y, Ferrari A, Feroci M, Fiorini M, Fuschino F, Galli M, Gianotti F, Labanti C, Lapshov I, Lazzarotto F, Lipari P, Marisaldi M, Mereghetti S, Morelli E, Moretti E, Morselli A, Pellizzoni A, Perotti F, Piano G, Picozza P, Pilia M, Prest M, Rapisarda M, Rappoldi A, Rubini A, Sabatini S, Soffitta P, Trifoglio M, Trois A, Vallazza E, Zanello D, Colafrancesco S, Pittori C, Verrecchia F, Santolamazza P, Lucarelli F, Giommi P, Salotti L, L., Pacciani, V., Vittorini, M., Tavani, M. T., Fiocchi, S., Vercellone, F., D'Ammando, T., Sakamoto, E., Pian, C. M., Raiteri, M., Villata, M., Sasada, R., Itoh, M., Yamanaka, M., Uemura, E., Striani, D., Fugazza, A., Tiengo, H. A., Krimm, M. C., Stroh, A. D., Falcone, P. A., Curran, A. C., Sadun, A., Lahteenmaki, M., Tornikoski, H. D., Aller, M. F., Aller, C. S., Lin, V. M., Larionov, P., Leto, L. O., Takalo, A., Berdyugin, M. A., Gurwell, A., Bulgarelli, A. W., Chen, I., Donnarumma, A., Giuliani, Longo, Francesco, G., Pucella, A., Argan, G., Barbiellini, P., Caraveo, P. W., Cattaneo, E., Costa, G. D., Pari, E. D., Monte, G. D., Cocco, Y., Evangelista, A., Ferrari, M., Feroci, M., Fiorini, F., Fuschino, M., Galli, F., Gianotti, C., Labanti, I., Lapshov, F., Lazzarotto, P., Lipari, M., Marisaldi, S., Mereghetti, E., Morelli, E., Moretti, A., Morselli, A., Pellizzoni, F., Perotti, G., Piano, P., Picozza, M., Pilia, M., Prest, M., Rapisarda, A., Rappoldi, A., Rubini, S., Sabatini, P., Soffitta, M., Trifoglio, A., Troi, E., Vallazza, D., Zanello, S., Colafrancesco, C., Pittori, F., Verrecchia, P., Santolamazza, F., Lucarelli, P., Giommi, and L., Salotti

Subjects
Agile, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, media_common.quotation_subject, galaxies: active, Flux, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics, gamma-ray source, High Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, AGILE satellite, Active Galactic Nuclei, Spectral line, blazar, law.invention, Accretion disc, multi wavelength observation, law, quasars: general, Blazar, media_common, Physics, galaxies: individual (3C 454.3), Gamma ray, Astronomy and Astrophysics, radiation mechanisms: non-thermal, Wavelength, Space and Planetary Science, Sky, Flare
Abstract

During the month of 2009 December, the blazar 3C 454.3 became the brightest gamma-ray source in the sky, reaching a peak flux F 2000 × 10 -8 photons cm-2 s-1 for E > 100 MeV. Starting in 2009 November intensive multifrequency campaigns monitored the 3C 454 gamma-ray outburst. Here, we report on the results of a two-month campaign involving AGILE, INTEGRAL, Swift/XRT, Swift/BAT, and Rossi XTE for the high-energy observations and Swift/UVOT, KANATA, Goddard Robotic Telescope, and REM for the near-IR/optical/UV data. GASP/WEBT provided radio and additional optical data. We detected a long-term active emission phase lasting 1 month at all wavelengths: in the gamma-ray band, peak emission was reached on 2009 December 2-3. Remarkably, this gamma-ray super-flare was not accompanied by correspondingly intense emission in the optical/UV band that reached a level substantially lower than the previous observations in 2007-2008. The lack of strong simultaneous optical brightening during the super-flare and the determination of the broadband spectral evolution severely constrain the theoretical modeling. We find that the pre- and post-flare broadband behavior can be explained by a one-zone model involving synchrotron self-Compton plus external Compton emission from an accretion disk and a broad-line region. However, the spectra of the 2009 December 2-3 super-flare and of the secondary peak emission on 2009 December 9 cannot be satisfactorily modeled by a simple one-zone model. An additional particle component is most likely active during these states. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Published
2010
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28. Long-term AGILE monitoring of the puzzling gamma-ray source 3EG J1835+5918

Author

G. De Paris, A. Zambra, F. D'Ammando, M. Feroci, M. Fiorini, Dario Gasparrini, L. Pacciani, F. Longo, A. Rappoldi, E. Vallazza, F. Boffelli, M. Rapisarda, P. Picozza, A. Argan, F. Perotti, E. Del Monte, G. Pucella, A. Trois, Andrea Bulgarelli, I. Donnarumma, T. Froysland, P. Soffitta, A. Pellizzoni, Guido Barbiellini, Enrico Costa, Y. Evangelista, F. Lazzarotto, V. Vittorini, V. Cocco, P. Santolamazza, M. Trifoglio, A. Giuliani, Paolo Lipari, A. W. Chen, P. Giommi, F. Fuschino, S. Vercellone, C. Pittoril, M. Galli, F. Verrecchia, Martino Marisaldi, Sandro Mereghetti, P. W. Cattaneo, P. A. Caraveo, I. Lapshov, M. Prest, S. Colafrancesco, Marco Tavani, G. Piano, A. Morselli, Claudio Labanti, L. Salotti, D. Zanello, M. Marelli, G. Di Cocco, S. Cutini, Fulvio Gianotti, Bulgarelli A, Tavani M, Caraveo P, Chen AW, Gianotti F, Trifoglio M, Marelli M, Argan A, Barbiellini G, Boffelli F, Cattaneo PW, Cocco V, Costa E, DAmmando F, Del Monte E, De Paris G, Di Cocco G, Donnarumma I, Evangelista Y, Feroci M, Fiorini M, Froysland T, Fuschino F, Galli M, Giuliani A, Labanti C, Lapshov I, Lazzarotto F, Lipari P, Longo F, Marisaldi M, Mereghetti S, Morselli A, Pacciani L, Pellizzoni A, Perotti F, Piano G, Picozza P, Prest M, Pucella G, Rapisarda M, Rappoldi A, Soffitta P, Trois A, Vallazza E, Vercellone S, Vittorini V, Zambra A, Zanello D, Giommi P, Pittori C, Verrecchia F, Santolamazza P, Gasparrini D, Cutini S, Colafrancesco S, Salotti L, A., Bulgarelli, M., Tavani, P., Caraveo, A. W., Chen, F., Gianotti, M., Trifoglio, M., Marelli, A., Argan, G., Barbiellini, F., Boffelli, P. W., Cattaneo, V., Cocco, E., Costa, F., D'Ammando, E. D., Monte, G. D., Pari, G. D., Cocco, I., Donnarumma, Y., Evangelista, M., Feroci, M., Fiorini, T., Froysland, F., Fuschino, M., Galli, A., Giuliani, C., Labanti, I., Lapshov, F., Lazzarotto, P., Lipari, Longo, Francesco, M., Marisaldi, S., Mereghetti, A., Morselli, L., Pacciani, A., Pellizzoni, F., Perotti, G., Piano, P., Picozza, M., Prest, G., Pucella, M., Rapisarda, A., Rappoldi, P., Soffitta, A., Troi, E., Vallazza, S., Vercellone, V., Vittorini, A., Zambra, D., Zanello, P., Giommi, C., Pittori, F., Verrecchia, P., Santolamazza, D., Gasparrini, S., Cutini, S., Colafrancesco, and L., Salotti

Subjects
Photon, Field (physics), FOS: Physical sciences, Flux, Field of view, Astrophysics, Unidentified Gamma-ray Source, Power law, High Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, AGILE gamma ray satellite, 3EG J1835+5918, Egret, Physics, biology, Astrophysics (astro-ph), Gamma ray, Astronomy and Astrophysics, biology.organism_classification, Term (time), Space and Planetary Science, Unidentified Gamma-ray Sources, AGILE satellite, gamma rays: observations
Abstract

We present the AGILE gamma-ray observations of the field containing the puzzling gamma-ray source 3EG J1835+5918. This source is one of the most remarkable unidentified EGRET sources. An unprecedentedly long AGILE monitoring of this source yields important information on the positional error box, flux evolution, and spectrum. 3EG J1835+5918 has been in the AGILE field of view several times in 2007 and 2008 for a total observing time of 138 days from 2007 Sept 04 to 2008 June 30 encompassing several weeks of continuous coverage. With an exposure time approximately twice that of EGRET, AGILE confirms the existence of a prominent gamma-ray source (AGL J1836+5926) at a position consistent with that of EGRET, although with a remarkably lower average flux value for photon energies greater than 100 MeV. A 5-day bin temporal analysis of the whole data set of AGL J1836+5926 shows some evidence for variability of the gamma-ray flux. The source spectrum between 100 MeV and 1 GeV can be fitted with a power law with photon index in the range 1.6-1.7, fully consistent with the EGRET value. The faint X-ray source RX J1836.2+5925 that has been proposed as a possible counterpart of 3EG J1835+5918 is well within the AGILE error box. Future continuous monitoring (both by AGILE and GLAST) is needed to confirm the gamma-ray flux variability and to unveil the source origin, a subject that is currently being pursued through a multiwavelength search for counterparts., Comment: accepted for publication by Astron. & Astrophys, 4 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables

Published
2008
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29. The AGILE space mission

Author

Francesco Longo, V. Cocco, M. Trifoglio, Ennio Morelli, Alda Rubini, Sandro Mereghetti, F. Perotti, P. A. Caraveo, A. Zambra, E. Rossi, C. Pittori, G. Di Cocco, T. Froysland, M. Galli, Martino Marisaldi, F. Fuschino, M. Fiorini, Paolo Soffitta, G. De Paris, G. Barbiellini, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, A. Morselli, F. Mauri, I. Lapshov, E. Del Monte, G. Pucella, Marco Tavani, Massimo Rapisarda, M. Mastropietro, M. Prest, Claudio Labanti, Paolo Lipari, S. Vercellone, D. Zanello, E. Vallazza, Angelo Antonelli, C. Pontoni, A. W. Chen, P. Giommi, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, Enrico Costa, Fulvio Gianotti, Alessio Trois, Geiland Porrovecchio, Francesco Lazzarotto, I. Donnarumma, P. Picozza, A. Pellizzoni, A. Giuliani, Y. Evangelista, M., Tavani, G., Barbiellini, A., Argan, A., Bulgarelli, P., Caraveo, A., Chen, V., Cocco, E., Costa, G. D., Pari, E. D., Monte, G. D., Cocco, I., Donnarumma, M., Feroci, M., Florini, T., Froysland, F., Fuschino, M., Galli, F., Gianotti, A., Giuliani, Y., Evangelista, C., Labanti, I., Lapshov, F., Lazzarotto, P., Lipari, Longo, Francesco, M., Marisaldi, M., Mastropietro, F., Mauri, S., Mereghetti, E., Morelli, A., Morselli, L., Pacciani, A., Pellizzoni, F., Perotti, P., Picozza, C., Pontoni, G., Porrovecchio, M., Prest, G., Pucella, M., Rapisarda, E., Rossi, A., Rubini, P., Soffitta, M., Trifoglio, A., Troi, E., Vallazza, S., Vercellone, A., Zarnbra, D., Zanello, P., Giommi, A., Antonelli, and C., Pittori

Subjects
Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Active galactic nucleus, silicon tungsten tracker, business.industry, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, media_common.quotation_subject, Detector, Astronomy, Detectors, Space (commercial competition), small mission, High Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, Universe, Supernova, Orbit (dynamics), AGILE satellite, Angular resolution, business, Instrumentation, Agile software development, media_common
Abstract

AGILE is an Italian Space Agency mission dedicated to the exploration of the gamma-ray Universe. The AGILE, very innovative instrument, combines for the first time a gamma-ray imager (sensitive in the range 30 MeV–50 GeV) and a hard X-ray imager (sensitive in the range 18–60 keV). An optimal angular resolution and very large fields of view are obtained by the use of state-of-the-art Silicon detectors integrated in a very compact instrument. AGILE was successfully launched on April 23, 2007 from the Indian base of Sriharikota and was inserted in an optimal low-particle background equatorial orbit. AGILE will provide crucial data for the study of Active Galactic Nuclei, Gamma-Ray Bursts, unidentified gamma-ray sources, galactic compact objects, supernova remnants, TeV sources, and fundamental physics by microsecond timing. The AGILE Cycle-1 pointing program started on 2007 December 1, and is open to the international community through a Guest Observer Program.

Published
2008
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30. AGILE Detection of a Strong Gamma-Ray Flare from the Blazar 3C 454.3

Author

T. Froysland, Martino Marisaldi, G. De Paris, Dario Gasparrini, Fulvio Gianotti, F. Perotti, F. Mauri, L. Salotti, A. Zambra, M. Prest, S. Cutini, Francesco Longo, G. Di Cocco, Paolo Giommi, Francesco Lazzarotto, M. Galli, Piergiorgio Picozza, Paolo Soffitta, F. Verrecchia, Marco Tavani, A. Pellizzoni, D. Zanello, Massimo Rapisarda, Claudio Labanti, Alessio Trois, Sergio Colafrancesco, L. A. Antonelli, P. A. Caraveo, Sandro Mereghetti, A. Giuliani, S. Vercellone, M. Fiorini, I. Donnarumma, Guido Barbiellini, A. Morselli, F. D'Ammando, Y. Evangelista, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, Paolo Lipari, E. Vallazza, F. Fuschino, V. Cocco, V. Vittorini, E. Del Monte, M. Trifoglio, G. Pucella, I. Lapshov, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, Enrico Costa, A. W. Chen, C. Pittori, S., Vercellone, A. W., Chen, A., Giuliani, A., Bulgarelli, I., Donnarumma, I., Lapshov, M., Tavani, A., Argan, G., Barbiellini, P., Caraveo, V., Cocco, E., Costa, F., D'Ammando, E. D., Monte, G. D., Pari, G. D., Cocco, Y., Evangelista, M., Feroci, M., Fiorini, T., Froysland, F., Fuschino, M., Galli, F., Gianotti, C., Labanti, F., Lazzarotto, P., Lipari, Longo, Francesco, M., Marisaldi, F., Mauri, S., Mereghetti, A., Morselli, L., Pacciani, A., Pellizzoni, F., Perotti, P., Picozza, M., Prest, G., Pucella, M., Rapisarda, P., Soffitta, M., Trifoglio, A., Troi, E., Vallazza, V., Vittorini, A., Zambra, D., Zanello, C., Pittori, F., Verrecchia, D., Gasparrini, S., Cutini, P., Giommi, L. A., Antonelli, S., Colafrancesco, L., Salotti, Vercellone S, Chen AW, Giuliani A, Bulgarelli A, Donnarumma I, Lapshov I, Tavani M, Argan A, Barbiellini G, Caraveo P, Cocco V, Costa E, DAmmando F, Del Monte E, De Paris G, Di Cocco G, Evangelista Y, Feroci M, Fiorini M, Froysland T, Fuschino F, Galli M, Gianotti F, Labanti C, Lazzarotto F, Lipari P, Longo F, Marisaldi M, Mauri F, Mereghetti S, Morselli A, Pacciani L, Pellizzoni A, Perotti F, Picozza P, Prest M, Pucella G, Rapisarda M, Soffitta P, Trifoglio M, Trois A, Vallazza E, Vittorini V, Zambra A, Zanello D, Pittori C, Verrecchia F, Gasparrini D, Cutini S, Giommi P, Antonelli LA, Colafrancesco S, and Salotti L

Subjects
High Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, Active Galactic Nuclei, AGILE satellite, Agile, Photon, blazar, gamma and X-ray detection, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics, law.invention, astro-ph, law, Blazar, Physics, Range (particle radiation), Astrophysics (astro-ph), Detector, Gamma ray, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Quasar, Space and Planetary Science, gamma rays: observations — quasars: individual (3C 454.3), Energy (signal processing), Flare
Abstract

We report the first blazar detection by the AGILE satellite. AGILE detected 3C 454.3 during a period of strongly enhanced optical emission in July 2007. AGILE observed the source with a dedicated repointing during the period 2007 July 24-30 with its two co-aligned imagers, the Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector and the hard X-ray imager Super-AGILE sensitive in the 30 MeV-50 GeV and 18-60 keV, respectively. Over the entire period, AGILE detected gamma-ray emission from 3C 454.3 at a significance level of 13.8-$\sigma$ with an average flux (E$>$100 MeV) of $(280 \pm 40) \times 10^{-8}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. The gamma-ray flux appears to be variable towards the end of the observation. No emission was detected by Super-AGILE in the energy range 20-60 keV, with a 3-$\sigma$ upper limit of $2.3 \times 10^{-3}$ photons cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. The gamma-ray flux level of 3C 454.3 detected by AGILE is the highest ever detected for this quasar and among the most intense gamma-ray fluxes ever detected from Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars., Comment: Accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letters; 14 pages, 3 EPS Figures, 1 Table

Published
2008
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31. AGILE Observations of the Gravitational-wave Source GW170104

Author

Attilio Ferrari, Flavio D'Amico, Guido Barbiellini, G. Minervini, Maura Pilia, Francesco Longo, M. Cardillo, E. Costa, Fabrizio Lucarelli, Alessio Trois, A. Argan, Y. Evangelista, Valentina Fioretti, F. Paoletti, Andrea Bulgarelli, P. W. Cattaneo, P. Munar-Adrover, Piergiorgio Picozza, A. Morselli, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, I. Donnarumma, P. A. Caraveo, F. Fuschino, G. Piano, N. Parmiggiani, A. Pellizzoni, A. Ursi, Martino Marisaldi, A. Giuliani, E. Del Monte, Louis Antonelli, Marco Tavani, Sergio Colafrancesco, C. Labanti, A. Rappoldi, S. Vercellone, Verrecchia, F., Tavani, M., Ursi, A., Argan, A., Pittori, C., Donnarumma, I., Bulgarelli, A., Fuschino, F., Labanti, C., Marisaldi, M., Evangelista, Y., Minervini, G., Giuliani, A., Cardillo, M., Longo, F., Lucarelli, F., Munar-Adrover, P., Piano, G., Pilia, M., Fioretti, V., Parmiggiani, N., Trois, A., Monte, E. Del, Antonelli, L. A., Barbiellini, G., Caraveo, P., Cattaneo, P. W., Colafrancesco, S., Costa, E., D'Amico, F., Feroci, M., Ferrari, A., Morselli, A., Pacciani, L., Paoletti, F., Pellizzoni, A., Picozza, P., Rappoldi, A., Vercellone, S., and ITA

Subjects
Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Gravitational wave, gamma rays: general, gravitational waves, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science, Detector, FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysic, 01 natural sciences, Coincidence, LIGO, 0103 physical sciences, Satellite, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, 010306 general physics, Gamma-ray burst, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, general [gamma rays], gravitational wave
Abstract

The LIGO/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) detected on 2017 January 4, a significant gravitational-wave (GW) event (now named GW170104). We report in this Letter the main results obtained from the analysis of hard X-ray and gamma-ray data of the AGILE mission that repeatedly observed the GW170104 localization region (LR). At the LVC detection time $T_0$ AGILE observed about 36% of the LR. The gamma-ray imaging detector did not reveal any significant emission in the energy range 50 MeV--30 GeV. Furthermore, no significant gamma-ray transients were detected in the LR that was repeatedly exposed over timescales of minutes, hours, and days. We also searched for transient emission using data near $T_0$ of the omnidirectional detector MCAL operating in the energy band 0.4--100 MeV. A refined analysis of MCAL data shows the existence of a weak event (that we call "E2") with a signal-to-noise ratio of $4.4\,\sigma$ lasting about 32 ms and occurring $0.46\,\pm\,0.05 \,\rm s$ before $T_0$. A study of the MCAL background and of the false-alarm rate of E2 leads to the determinination of a post-trial significance between $2.4\,\sigma$ and $2.7\,\sigma$ for a temporal coincidence with GW170104. We note that E2 has characteristics similar to those detected from the weak precursor of the short GRB 090510. The candidate event E2 is worth consideration for simultaneous detection by other satellites. If associated with GW170104, it shows emission in the MeV band of a short burst preceding the final coalescence by 0.46 sec and involving $\sim 10^{-7}$ of the total rest mass energy of the system., Comment: Submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters on 2017 May 31; revised 2017 July 19; accepted 2017 July 20

Published
2017
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32. The e-ASTROGAM mission: Exploring the extreme Universe with gamma rays in the MeV – GeV range

Author

Barbara Patricelli, V. Bonvicini, Riccardo Rando, Sandro Mereghetti, Andrea Vacchi, Kazuhiro Nakazawa, Claudio Labanti, Jordi Isern, M. Hayashida, Josep M. Paredes, J. Eric Grove, C. Hamadache, Andreas Zoglauer, Olivier Limousin, Julie McEnery, Andrei M. Bykov, G. Ambrosi, D. de Martino, Francesco Longo, Irfan Kuvvetli, Alexander Moiseev, Xin Wu, Fabrizio Tavecchio, I. Donnarumma, M. I. Martínez, Marco Tavani, J. Peyré, Elisa Bernardini, A. Argan, Roland Walter, J. Kiener, Piotr Orleanski, Mark Pearce, Ignasi Reichardt, A. Morselli, Andrzej A. Zdziarski, Martino Marisaldi, Vincent Tatischeff, Andrea Bulgarelli, Marica Branchesi, Uwe Oberlack, Rui Curado da Silva, Dieter H. Hartmann, Lorraine Hanlon, Philippe Laurent, Marco Ajello, D. Bernard, Valentina Fioretti, Martin Pohl, Alessio Aboudan, Gottfried Kanbach, Alessandro De Angelis, Gabriele Ghisellini, Stefan Funk, Peter von Ballmoos, Michele Doro, M. N. Mazziotta, Marco Roncadelli, Harald Ramarijaona, Roland Diehl, Margarita Hernanz, Alexei Ulyanov, G. Minervini, G. Piano, Riccardo Campana, Carl Budtz-Jørgensen, D. J. Thompson, M. Cardillo, Paolo De Coppi, Karl Mannheim, Roberto Turolla, Jürgen Knödlseder, Isabelle Grenier, A. Brogna, De Angelis, A., Tatischeff, V., Tavani, M., Oberlack, U., Grenier, I., Hanlon, L., Walter, R., Argan, A., von Ballmoos, P., Bulgarelli, A., Donnarumma, I., Hernanz, M., Kuvvetli, I., Pearce, M., Zdziarski, A., Aboudan, A., Ajello, M., Ambrosi, G., Bernard, D., Bernardini, E., Bonvicini, V., Brogna, A., Branchesi, M., Budtz-Jorgensen, C., Bykov, A., Campana, R., Cardillo, M., Coppi, P., De Martino, D., Diehl, R., Doro, M., Fioretti, V., Funk, S., Ghisellini, G., Grove, E., Hamadache, C., Hartmann, D. H., Hayashida, M., Isern, J., Kanbach, G., Kiener, J., Knödlseder, J., Labanti, C., Laurent, P., Limousin, O., Longo, F., Mannheim, K., Marisaldi, M., Martinez, M., Mazziotta, M. N., Mcenery, J., Mereghetti, S., Minervini, G., Moiseev, A., Morselli, A., Nakazawa, K., Orleanski, P., Paredes, J. M., Patricelli, B., Peyré, J., Piano, G., Pohl, M., Ramarijaona, H., Rando, R., Reichardt, I., Roncadelli, M., Silva, R., Tavecchio, F., Thompson, D. J., Turolla, R., Ulyanov, A., Vacchi, A., Wu, X., Zoglauer, A., and ITA

Subjects
Counterparts of gravitational wave, Multiwavelength Observations of the Universe, 01 natural sciences, Early Universe, Observatory, Jets, Nuclear Astrophysics, Nuclear astrophysics, Dark Matter, Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex), Nuclear Astrophysic, Nuclear Experiment, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, media_common, Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Counterparts of gravitational waves, Gamma-Ray Burst, Cosmic Rays, Compton and Pair Creation Telescope, Supernovae, Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, High-Energy Astrophysics, Active Galactic Nuclei, Cosmic Antimatter, Fermi, Gamma-Ray Bursts, High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy, Nucleosynthesis, Outflows, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Active galactic nucleus, media_common.quotation_subject, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Dark matter, FOS: Physical sciences, Cosmic ray, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Cosmic Ray, High-Energy Astrophysic, 0103 physical sciences, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics, Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR), Nucleosynthesi, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Astronomy, Outflow, Astronomy and Astrophysic, Universe, Galaxy, Jet, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Abstract

e-ASTROGAM (`enhanced ASTROGAM') is a breakthrough Observatory mission dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. In the largely unexplored MeV-GeV domain, 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 Galactic ecosystems. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, 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. Keywords: High-energy gamma-ray astronomy, High-energy astrophysics, Nuclear Astrophysics, Compton and Pair creation telescope, Gamma-ray bursts, Active Galactic Nuclei, Jets, Outflows, Multiwavelength observations of the Universe, Counterparts of gravitational waves, Fermi, Dark Matter, Nucleosynthesis, Early Universe, Supernovae, Cosmic Rays, Cosmic antimatter., Comment: Exp Astron (2017)

Published
2017

33. AGILE Detection of a Candidate Gamma-Ray Precursor to the ICECUBE-160731 Neutrino Event

Author

Sandro Mereghetti, P. W. Cattaneo, A. Morselli, C. Pittori, Luigi Pacciani, Fabrizio Lucarelli, F. Verrecchia, I. Donnarumma, A. Pellizzoni, A. Giuliani, Marco Tavani, Maura Pilia, Sergio Colafrancesco, A. Rappoldi, Alessio Trois, S. Vercellone, Andrea Bulgarelli, G. Piano, Francesco Longo, P. A. Caraveo, Louis Antonelli, ITA, Lucarelli, F., Pittori, C., Verrecchia, F., Donnarumma, I., Tavani, M., Bulgarelli, A., Giuliani, A., Antonelli, L. A., Caraveo, P., Cattaneo, P. W., Colafrancesco, S., Longo, F., Mereghetti, S., Morselli, A., Pacciani, L., Piano, G., Pellizzoni, A., Pilia, M., Rappoldi, A., Trois, A., and Vercellone, S.

Subjects
Event (relativity), FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics, astronomical databases: miscellaneous, BL Lacertae objects: general, gamma rays: galaxies, neutrinos, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science, miscellaneou [astronomical databases], 01 natural sciences, Space exploration, neutrino, Observatory, 0103 physical sciences, galaxie [gamma rays], Blazar, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), 010308 nuclear & particles physics, general [BL Lacertae objects], Gamma ray, Astronomy and Astrophysic, Satellite, Transient (oscillation), Neutrino, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Abstract

On July 31st, 2016, the ICECUBE collaboration reported the detection of a high-energy starting event induced by an astrophysical neutrino. We report here about the search for a gamma-ray counterpart of the ICECUBE-160731 event made with the AGILE satellite. No detection was found spanning the time interval of +/- 1 ks around the neutrino event time T0 using the AGILE "burst search" system. Looking for a possible gamma-ray precursor in the results of the AGILE-GRID automatic Quick Look procedure over predefined 48-hours time-bins, we found an excess above 100 MeV between one and two days before T0, positionally consistent with the ICECUBE error circle, having a post-trial significance of about 4 sigma. A refined data analysis of this excess confirms a-posteriori the automatic detection. The new AGILE transient source, named AGL J1418+0008, thus stands as possible ICECUBE-160731 gamma-ray precursor. No other space missions nor ground observatories have reported any detection of transient emission consistent with the ICECUBE event. We show that Fermi-LAT had a low exposure of the ICECUBE region during the AGILE gamma-ray transient. Based on an extensive search for cataloged sources within the error regions of ICECUBE-160731 and AGL J1418+0008, we find a possible common counterpart showing some of the key features associated to the high-energy peaked BL Lac (HBL) class of blazars. Further investigations on the nature of this source using dedicated SWIFT ToO data are presented., 23 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Published
2017

34. The e-ASTROGAM mission

Author

A. De Angelis, V. Tatischeff, M. Tavani, U. Oberlack, I. Grenier, L. Hanlon, R. Walter, A. Argan, P. von Ballmoos, A. Bulgarelli, I. Donnarumma, M. Hernanz, I. Kuvvetli, M. Pearce, A. Zdziarski, A. Aboudan, M. Ajello, G. Ambrosi, D. Bernard, E. Bernardini, V. Bonvicini, A. Brogna, M. Branchesi, C. Budtz-Jorgensen, A. Bykov, R. Campana, M. Cardillo, P. Coppi, D. De Martino, R. Diehl, M. Doro, and V. Fi

Published
2017
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35. Observing GRBs with the LOFT Wide Field Monitor

Author

A. J. Castro-Tirado, S. Korpela, M. Feroci, Alvarez, Piotr Orleanski, Luigi Stella, Lorenzo Amati, Flemming Hansen, René Hudec, Carl Budtz-Jørgensen, A. Vacchi, N. Zampa, Irfan Kuvvetli, M. Pohl, C. Tenzer, Christian Schmid, J. J. M. in 't Zand, A. Rachevski, Enrico Bozzo, E. Del Monte, Andrea Santangelo, D. Gotz, Allan Hornstrup, Niels Lund, S. Schanne, Slawomir Suchy, Jörn Wilms, J. L. Galvez Sanchez, Søren Brandt, Philipp Azzarello, Didier Barret, Riccardo Campana, M. van der Klis, M. Hernanz, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, D. Karelin, Andrzej A. Zdziarski, J. W. den Herder, Alain Cros, and High Energy Astrophys. & Astropart. Phys (API, FNWI)

Subjects
Physics, Cosmic Vision, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, media_common.quotation_subject, General Engineering, Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Field of view, 01 natural sciences, 7. Clean energy, Collimated light, Engineering (all), Space and Planetary Science, Observatory, Sky, 0103 physical sciences, Transient (oscillation), Gamma-ray burst, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Energy (signal processing), media_common
Abstract

LOFT (Large Observatory For X-ray Timing) is one of the four candidate missions currently under assessment study for the M3 mission in ESAs Cosmic Vision program to be launched in 2024. LOFT will carry two instruments with prime sensitivity in the 2–30 keV range: a 10 m2 class large area detector (LAD) with a

Published
2013
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36. The e-ASTROGAM gamma-ray space mission

Author

Andrei M. Bykov, A. De Angelis, Dieter H. Hartmann, Sheila McBreen, Uwe Oberlack, M. Cardillo, C. Pittori, D. Bernard, Sandro Mereghetti, Francesco Longo, Philippe Laurent, Jürgen Knödlseder, R. Walter, Andreas Zoglauer, Valentina Fioretti, Marco Tavani, S. Sabatini, A. Brogna, Martino Marisaldi, C. Labanti, Jordi Isern, Kazuhiro Nakazawa, J. Peyré, Paolo Coppi, Julie McEnery, A. Morselli, J. Kiener, Lorraine Hanlon, G. Piano, Andrzej A. Zdziarski, Xin Wu, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, Riccardo Campana, D. J. Thompson, P. A. Caraveo, Margarita Hernanz, Alessio Aboudan, P. von Ballmoos, F. Mirabel, I. Donnarumma, V. Tatischeff, I. A. Grenier, Olivier Limousin, G. Kanbach, Roland Diehl, Alexei Ulyanov, J. E. Grove, L. Stawarz, A. Giuliani, C. Hamadache, Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière (CSNSM), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie (IRAP), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (LLR), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC (UMR_7164)), Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris Cité (UPCité), Centre de Sciences Nucléaires et de Sciences de la Matière ( CSNSM ), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 ( UP11 ) -Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS ( IN2P3 ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Institut de recherche en astrophysique et planétologie ( IRAP ), Université Paul Sabatier - Toulouse 3 ( UPS ) -Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées ( OMP ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet ( LLR ), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS ( IN2P3 ) -École polytechnique ( X ) -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ), AstroParticule et Cosmologie ( APC - UMR 7164 ), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique ( CNRS ) -Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS ( IN2P3 ) -Observatoire de Paris-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 ( UPD7 ) -Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives ( CEA ), Jan-Willem A. den Herder, Tadayuki Takahashi, Marshall Bautz, Tatischeff, V., Tavani, M., Von Ballmoos, P., Hanlon, L., Oberlack, U., Aboudan, A., Argan, A., Bernard, D., Brogna, A., Bulgarelli, A., Bykov, A., Campana, R., Caraveo, P., Cardillo, M., Coppi, P., De Angelis, A., Diehl, R., Donnarumma, I., Fioretti, V., Giuliani, A., Grenier, I., Grove, J. E., Hamadache, C., Hartmann, D., Hernanz, M., Isern, J., Kanbach, G., Kiener, J., Knodlseder, J., Labanti, C., Laurent, P., Limousin, O., Longo, F., Marisaldi, M., Mcbreen, S., Mcenery, J. E., Mereghetti, S., Mirabel, F., Morselli, A., Nakazawa, K., Peyre, J., Piano, G., Pittori, C., Sabatini, S., Stawarz, L., Thompson, D. J., Ulyanov, A., Walter, R., Wu, X., Zdziarski, A., Zoglauer, A., Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3), Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Paris (UP), Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Observatoire de Paris, and PSL Research University (PSL)-PSL Research University (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)

Subjects
Compton and pair creation telescope, Gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray polarization, high-energy astrophysical phenomena, space mission, time-domain astronomy, [ PHYS.ASTR ] Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astronomy, Dark matter, Observatories, FOS: Physical sciences, Cosmic ray, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Polarization, 0103 physical sciences, Galaxy groups and clusters, [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-INS-DET]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det], 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), [ PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-INS-DET ] Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det], Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics, Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Supermassive black hole, Active galactic nuclei, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Sensors, Galactic Center, Galaxy, Particle accelerators, Neutron star, Gamma radiation, Chemicals, Electronics, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph], Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, Telescopes
Abstract

The e-ASTROGAM is a gamma-ray space mission to be proposed as the M5 Medium-size mission of the European Space Agency. It is dedicated to the observation of the Universe with unprecedented sensitivity in the energy range 0.2 - 100 MeV, extending up to GeV energies, together with a groundbreaking polarization capability. It is designed to substantially improve the COMPTEL and Fermi sensitivities in the MeV-GeV energy range and to open new windows of opportunity for astrophysical and fundamental physics space research. e-ASTROGAM will operate as an open astronomical observatory, with a core science focused on (1) the activity from extreme particle accelerators, including gamma-ray bursts and active galactic nuclei and the link of jet astrophysics to the new astronomy of gravitational waves, neutrinos, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, (2) the high-energy mysteries of the Galactic center and inner Galaxy, including the activity of the supermassive black hole, the Fermi Bubbles, the origin of the Galactic positrons, and the search for dark matter signatures in a new energy window; (3) nucleosynthesis and chemical evolution, including the life cycle of elements produced by supernovae in the Milky Way and the Local Group of galaxies. e-ASTROGAM will be ideal for the study of high-energy sources in general, including pulsars and pulsar wind nebulae, accreting neutron stars and black holes, novae, supernova remnants, and magnetars. And it will also provide important contributions to solar and terrestrial physics. The e-ASTROGAM telescope is optimized for the simultaneous detection of Compton and pair-producing gamma-ray events over a large spectral band. It is based on a very high technology readiness level for all subsystems and includes many innovative features for the detectors and associated electronics., 11 pages, 5 figures, published in the proceedings of SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray conference, Edinburgh 2016. Addition of an acknowledgment statement in version 2

Published
2016
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37. The characterization of the distant blazar GB6 J1239+0443 from flaring and low activity periods

Author

C. Pittori, S. Vercellone, Paolo Lipari, Ennio Morelli, F. Lucarelli, Martino Marisaldi, Paolo Soffitta, E. Del Monte, E. Moretti, A. Domingo, L. Salotti, G. De Paris, E. Striani, S. Rainò, Francesco Lazzarotto, A. Pellizzoni, D. Zanello, A. Tarchi, V. Vittorini, F. Fuschino, Francesco Longo, F. Perotti, I. Lapshov, Sandro Mereghetti, P. W. Cattaneo, M. Trifoglio, A. Giuliani, A. W. Chen, G. Valentini, Y. Evangelista, G. Piano, Y. Ikejiri, A. Rappoldi, E. Vallazza, S. Sabatini, M. Fiorini, P. Santolamazza, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, Marco Tavani, Massimo Rapisarda, Sergio Colafrancesco, A. Argan, Alda Rubini, Andrea Bulgarelli, Paolo Giommi, Enrico Costa, Masayuki Yamanaka, A. Morselli, Attilio Ferrari, I. Donnarumma, G. Pucella, Guido Barbiellini, Roberto J. Assef, G. Di Cocco, Makoto Uemura, Claudio Labanti, M. Giusti, M. Galli, Piergiorgio Picozza, F. Verrecchia, Fulvio Gianotti, Kelly D. Denney, M. Prest, Maura Pilia, Alessio Trois, and P. A. Caraveo

Subjects
Physics, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Quasar, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics, Luminosity, Black hole, Space and Planetary Science, Spectral energy distribution, Emission spectrum, Blazar, Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics, Line (formation), Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Abstract

In 2008 AGILE and Fermi detected gamma-ray flaring activity from the unidentified EGRET source 3EG J1236+0457, recently associated with a flat spectrum radio quasar GB6 J1239+0443 at z=1.762. The optical counterpart of the gamma-ray source underwent a flux enhancement of a factor 15-30 in 6 years, and of ~10 in six months. We interpret this flare-up in terms of a transition from an accretion-disk dominated emission to a synchrotron-jet dominated one. We analysed a Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) archival optical spectrum taken during a period of low radio and optical activity of the source. We estimated the mass of the central black hole using the width of the CIV emission line. In our work, we have also investigated SDSS archival optical photometric data and UV GALEX observations to estimate the thermal-disk emission contribution of GB6 J1239+0443. Our analysis of the gamma-ray data taken during the flaring episodes indicates a flat gamma-ray spectrum, with an extension of up to 15 GeV, with no statistically-relevant sign of absorption from the broad line region, suggesting that the blazar-zone is located beyond the broad line region. This result is confirmed by the modeling of the broad-band spectral energy distribution (well constrained by the available multiwavelength data) of the flaring activity periods and by the accretion disk luminosity and black hole mass estimated by us using archival data.

Published
2012
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38. Characterization of a tagged γ-ray beam line at the DAΦNE Beam Test Facility

Author

A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, E. Moretti, Geiland Porrovecchio, Martino Marisaldi, A. W. Chen, P. Picozza, A. Zambra, F. D'Ammando, Bruno Buonomo, P. Santolamazza, G. Barbiellini, S. Vercellone, Alessio Trois, M. Fiorini, I. Donnarumma, M. Galli, Y. Evangelista, E. Vallazza, Marco Feroci, Fulvio Gianotti, Arnaud Ferrari, Luigi Pacciani, F. Longo, G. De Paris, F. Verrecchia, F. Perotti, G. Piano, S. Sabatini, F. Boffelli, Ennio Morelli, Alda Rubini, P. W. Cattaneo, P. Caraveo, V. Cocco, L. Foggetta, Claudio Labanti, Francesco Lazzarotto, Marco Tavani, A. Pellizzoni, E. Costa, M. Prest, D. Zanello, L. Salotti, A. Morselli, M. Pilia, Paolo Soffitta, Paolo Valente, Sandro Mereghetti, G. Di Cocco, A. Rappoldi, A. Giuliani, M. Mastropietro, S. Colafrancesco, V. Vittorini, Massimo Rapisarda, G. Pucella, Lina Quintieri, C. Pittori, T. Froysland, E. Striani, F. Fuschino, I. Lapshov, Paolo Lipari, P. Giommi, E. Del Monte, G. Mazzitelli, and M. Trifoglio

Subjects
Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Photon, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Spectrometer, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, business.industry, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Gamma ray, Bremsstrahlung, Scintillator, 01 natural sciences, Optics, Beamline, Dipole magnet, 0103 physical sciences, business, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Instrumentation, Beam (structure), 0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Abstract

At the core of the AGILE scientific instrument, designed to operate on a satellite, there is the Gamma Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) consisting of a Silicon Tracker (ST), a Cesium Iodide Mini-Calorimeter and an Anti-Coincidence system of plastic scintillator bars. The ST needs an on-ground calibration with a g-ray beam to validate the simulation used to calculate the energy response function and the effective area versus the energy and the direction of the g rays. A tagged g-ray beam line was designed at the Beam Test Facility (BTF) of the INFN Laboratori Nazionali of Frascati (LNF), based on an electron beam generating g-rays through bremsstrahlung in a position-sensitive target. The g-ray energy is deduced by difference with the post-bremsstrahlung electron energy [1,2]. The electron energy is measured by a spectrometer consisting of a dipole magnet and an array of position sensitive silicon strip detectors, the Photon Tagging System (PTS). The use of the combined BTF-PTS system as tagged photon beam requires understanding the efficiency of g-ray tagging, the probability of fake tagging, the energy resolution and Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Published
2012
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39. AGILE Detection of Gamma-Ray Sources Coincident with Cosmic Neutrino Events

Author

C. Pittori, M. Galli, F. Verrecchia, L. A. Antonelli, G. Di Cocco, Marco Tavani, N. Parmiggiani, A. Rappoldi, S. Vercellone, Guido Barbiellini, P. A. Caraveo, V. Vittorini, G. Piano, P. Lipari, A. W. Chen, P. Picozza, Arnaud Ferrari, P. W. Cattaneo, A. Ursi, Paolo Giommi, Maura Pilia, M. Cardillo, Sandro Mereghetti, Alessio Trois, S. Colafrancesco, A. Morselli, I. Donnarumma, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, Fabrizio Lucarelli, E. Costa, A. Pellizzoni, A. Giuliani, Francesco Longo, F. Paoletti, E. Del Monte, Valentina Fioretti, ITA, Lucarelli, F., Tavani, M., Piano, G., Bulgarelli, A., Donnarumma, I., Verrecchia, F., Pittori, C., Antonelli, L. A., Argan, A., Barbiellini, G., Caraveo, P., Cardillo, M., Cattaneo, P. W., Chen, A., Colafrancesco, S., Costa, E., Monte, E. Del, Cocco, G. Di, Ferrari, A., Fioretti, V., Galli, M., Giommi, P., Giuliani, A., Lipari, P., Longo, F., Mereghetti, S., Morselli, A., Paoletti, F., Parmiggiani, N., Pellizzoni, A., Picozza, P., Pilia, M., Rappoldi, A., Trois, A., Ursi, A., Vercellone, S., and Vittorini, V.

Subjects
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, COSMIC cancer database, general [BL Lacertae objects], Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Gamma ray, neutrinos, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, astronomical databases: miscellaneous, BL Lacertae objects: general, gamma rays: general, Astrophysics, Astronomy and Astrophysic, miscellaneou [astronomical databases], gamma rays: galaxies, Space and Planetary Science, neutrino, Coincident, galaxie [gamma rays], Neutrino, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, general [gamma rays]
Abstract

The origin of cosmic neutrinos is still largely unknown. Using data obtained by the gamma-ray imager on board of the AGILE satellite, we systematically searched for transient gamma-ray sources above 100 MeV that are temporally and spatially coincident with ten recent high-energy neutrino IceCube events. We find three AGILE candidate sources that can be considered possible counterparts to neutrino events. Detecting 3 gamma-ray/neutrino associations out of 10 IceCube events is shown to be unlikely due to a chance coincidence. One of the sources is related to the BL Lac source TXS 0506+056. For the other two AGILE gamma-ray sources there are no obvious known counterparts, and both Galactic and extragalactic origin should be considered., 21 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Published
2019
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40. The mid-2016 flaring activity of the flat spectrum radio quasar PKS 2023-07

Author

Luigi Pacciani, P. Romano, A. Porras, S. Vercellone, F. Verrecchia, Luis Carrasco, E. Recillas, P. Munar-Adrover, G. Piano, Marco Tavani, I. Donnarumma, ITA, and MEX

Subjects
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Physics, 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences, Opacity, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, FOS: Physical sciences, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Quasar, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics, 01 natural sciences, Black hole, Space and Planetary Science, 0103 physical sciences, Spectral energy distribution, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Blazar, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, Astrophysics::Galaxy Astrophysics, 0105 earth and related environmental sciences, Line (formation), Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Abstract

Context. Flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) can suffer strong absorption above E = 25∕(1 + z) GeV, due to gamma–gamma interaction if the emitting region is at sub-parsec scale from the super-massive black hole (SMBH). Aims. Gamma-ray flares from these astrophysical sources can be used to investigate the location of the high-energy emission region and the physics of the radiating processes. Methods. We present an episode of remarkable gamma-ray flaring activity from FSRQ PKS 2023-07 during April 2016, as detected by both the AGILE and Fermi satellites. An intensive multiwavelength campaign, triggered by Swift, covered the entire duration of the flaring activity, including the peak gamma-ray activity. Results. We report the results of multiwavelength observations of the blazar. We found that during the peak emission, the most energetic photon had an energy of 44 GeV, putting strong constraints on the opacity of the gamma-ray dissipation region. The overall spectral energy distribution (SED) is interpreted in terms of leptonic models for blazar jets, with the emission site located beyond the broad line region (BLR).

Published
2018
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41. Search of GRB with AGILE Minicalorimeter

Author

Martino Marisaldi, A. Argan, Marco Tavani, Marco Feroci, Francesco Lazzarotto, Luigi Pacciani, Andrea Bulgarelli, E. Del Monte, F. Fuschino, I. Donnarumma, M. Trifoglio, M. Galli, Claudio Labanti, Fulvio Gianotti, and Alessio Trois

Subjects
Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Scintillation, Physics::Instrumentation and Detectors, Bar (music), business.industry, Payload, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Detector, Electrical engineering, Photodiode, law.invention, Optics, law, Transient (oscillation), business, Gamma-ray burst, Instrumentation, Energy (signal processing)
Abstract

AGILE, the small scientific mission of the Italian Space Agency devoted to Hard-X and Gamma-ray astrophysics, was successfully launched on April 23, 2007. The AGILE payload is composed of a tungsten-silicon tracker (ST), operating in the gamma-ray energy range 30 MeV–50 GeV; Super-AGILE, an X-ray imager operating in the energy range 15–45 keV; the Minicalorimeter (MCAL) and an Anticoincidence shield. MCAL is a detector of about 1400 cm2 sensitive in the range 0.3–200 MeV, that can be used both as a slave of the ST to contribute to the AGILE Gamma Ray imaging Detector (GRID operative mode) and autonomously for detection of transient events (BURST operative mode). MCAL is made of 30 CsI(Tl) bar-shaped scintillation detectors with photodiode readout at both ends, arranged in two orthogonal layers. Energy and position of interaction can be derived from a proper composition of the signals readout at the bar's ends, absolute time tagging can be achieved with a μ s resolution. The Burst logic deals with various rate-meters on different time scales, energy bands, and MCAL spatial zones. Different algorithms can be chosen for Burst triggering considering also the contribution of other detectors like Super AGILE. In this paper the various trigger logic will be reviewed as well as their on-ground test performed with a dedicated experimental setup.

Published
2008
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42. The large area detector of LOFT: the Large Observatory for X-ray TimingSpace Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

Author

Tadayuki Takahashi, Jan Willem A. den Herder, Mark Bautz, S. Zane, D. Walton, T. Kennedy, M. Feroci, J. W. Den Herder, M. Ahangarianabhari, A. Argan, P. Azzarello, M. Barbera, D. Barret, G. Bertuccio, P. Bodin, E. Bozzo, L. Bradley, F. Cadoux, P. Cais, R. Campana, J. Coker, A. Cros, E. Del Monte, A. De Rosa, S. Di Cosimo, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, Y. Favre, C. Feldman, G. Fraser, F. Fuschino, M. Grassi, M. R. Hailey, R. Hudec, C. Labanti, P. Malcovati, D. Macera, M. Marisaldi, A. Martindale, T. Mineo, F. Muleri, M. Nowak, M. Orlandini, L. Pacciani, E. Perinati, V. Petracek, M. Pohl, A. Rachevski, P. Smith, A. Santangelo, J. Y. Seyler, C. Schmid, P. Soffitta, S. Suchy, C. Tenzer, P. Uttley, A. Vacchi, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, J. Wilms, B. Winter, BALDAZZI, GIUSEPPE, Tadayuki Takahashi, Jan-Willem A. den Herder, Mark Bautz, S. Zane, D. Walton, T. Kennedy, M. Feroci, J.-W Den Herder, M. Ahangarianabhari, A. Argan, P. Azzarello, G. Baldazzi, M. Barbera, D. Barret, G. Bertuccio, P. Bodin, E. Bozzo, L. Bradley, F. Cadoux, P Cai, R. Campana, J. Coker, A. Cro, E. Del Monte, A. De Rosa, S. Di Cosimo, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, Y. Favre, C. Feldman, G. Fraser, F. Fuschino, M. Grassi, M. R. Hailey, R. Hudec, C. Labanti, P. Malcovati, D. Macera, M. Marisaldi, A. Martindale, T. Mineo, F. Muleri, M. Nowak, M. Orlandini, L. Pacciani, E. Perinati, V. Petracek, M. Pohl, A. Rachevski, P. Smith, A. Santangelo, J.-Y. Seyler, C. Schmid, P. Soffitta, S. Suchy, C. Tenzer, P. Uttley, A. Vacchi, G. Zampa, N. Zampa, J. Wilm, and B. Winter

Subjects
SPACE MISSIONS, large area position-sensitive detector, x-rays, SILICON DRIFT DETECTORS
Abstract

LOFT (Large Observatory for X-ray Timing) is one of the five candidates that were considered by ESA as an M3 mission (with launch in 2022-2024) and has been studied during an extensive assessment phase. It is specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black holes and neutron stars. Its pointed instrument is the Large Area Detector (LAD), a 10 m2-class instrument operating in the 2-30keV range, which holds the capability to revolutionise studies of variability from X-ray sources on the millisecond time scales. The LAD instrument has now completed the assessment phase but was not down-selected for launch. However, during the assessment, most of the trade-offs have been closed leading to a robust and well documented design that will be reproposed in future ESA calls. In this talk, we will summarize the characteristics of the LAD design and give an overview of the expectations for the instrument capabilities. © (2014) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Published
2014

43. GRB 070724B: the first gamma ray burst localized by SuperAGILE and its Swift X-ray afterglow

Author

F. Mauri, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, P. Lipari, M. Galli, Piergiorgio Picozza, Massimo Rapisarda, A. Argan, Andrea Bulgarelli, L. A. Antonelli, Claudio Labanti, Enrico Costa, F. Verrecchia, B. Preger, P. A. Caraveo, Neil Gehrels, V. Vittorini, E. Vallazza, M. Trifoglio, E. Del Monte, C. Pittori, A. Pellizzoni, P. Romano, S. Vercellone, F. Perotti, A. Giuliani, G. Di Cocco, L. Salotti, A. Zambra, J. P. Osborne, David N. Burrows, L. Foggetta, M. Prest, I. Lapshov, Alessio Trois, Paolo Soffitta, M. Basset, Sandro Mereghetti, Francesco Lazzarotto, Y. Evangelista, V. La Parola, Martino Marisaldi, P. T. O'Brien, G. Chincarini, Marco Tavani, I. Donnarumma, A. W. Chen, Fulvio Gianotti, F. Fuschino, A. Morselli, G. Barbiellini, Paolo Giommi, Francesco Longo, G. Pucella, DEL MONTE, E, Feroci, M, Pacciani, L, Evangelista, Y, Donnarumma, I, Soffitta, P, Costa, E, Lapshov, I, Lazzarotto, F, Rapisarda, M, Argan, A, BARBIELLINI AMIDEI, Guido, Basset, M, Bulgarelli, A, Caraveo, P, Chen, A, DI COCCO, G, Foggetta, L, Fuschino, F, Galli, M, Gianotti, F, Giuliani, A, Labanti, C, Lipari, P, Longo, Francesco, Marisaldi, M, Mauri, F, Mereghetti, S, Morselli, A, Pellizzoni, A, Perotti, F, Picozza, P, Prest, M, Pucella, G, Tavani, M, Trifoglio, M, Trois, A, Vallazza, E, Vercellone, S, Vittorini, V, Zambra, A, Romano, P, BURROWS D., N, Chincarini, G, Gehrels, N, LA PAROLA, V, O'BRIEN P., T, OSBORNE J., P, Preger, B, Pittori, C, ANTONELLI L., A, Verrecchia, F, Giommi, P, and Salotti, L.

Subjects
Physics, Swift, Very large array, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics (astro-ph), X-ray, Gamma ray, FOS: Physical sciences, AGILE satellite, GRB 070724B, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Astrophysics::Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics, law.invention, Afterglow, Telescope, Space and Planetary Science, law, Gamma-ray burst, computer, computer.programming_language
Abstract

GRB 070724B is the first Gamma Ray Burst localized by SuperAGILE, the hard X-ray monitor aboard the AGILE satellite. The coordinates of the event were published $\sim 19$ hours after the trigger. The Swift X-Ray Telescope pointed at the SuperAGILE location and detected the X-ray afterglow inside the SuperAGILE error circle. The AGILE gamma-ray Tracker and Minicalorimeter did not detect any significant gamma ray emission associated with GRB 070724B in the MeV and GeV range, neither prompt nor delayed. Searches of the optical afterglow were performed by the Swift UVOT and the Palomar automated 60-inch telescopes without any significant detection. Similarly the Very Large Array did not detect a radio afterglow. This is the first GRB event with a firm upper limit in the 100 MeV -- 30 GeV energy range, associated with an X-ray afterglow., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures (of which 2 in color), contains online material. Accepted for publication by Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters

Published
2007
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44. SuperAGILE: The hard X-ray imager for the AGILE space mission

Author

Alda Rubini, Massimo Frutti, G. Di Persio, M. Mastropietro, Ennio Morelli, Marco Tavani, A. Argan, Geiland Porrovecchio, Y. Evangelista, E. Del Monte, Enrico Costa, Paolo Soffitta, Massimo Rapisarda, Francesco Lazzarotto, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, I. Donnarumma, and I. Lapshov

Subjects
Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, High-energy astronomy, business.industry, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, media_common.quotation_subject, Astrophysics (astro-ph), Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, X-ray detector, FOS: Physical sciences, Field of view, Astrophysics, Optics, Sky, Orbit (dynamics), Angular resolution, Satellite, business, Instrumentation, Energy (signal processing), Remote sensing, media_common
Abstract

SuperAGILE is a coded mask experiment based on silicon microstrip detectors. It operates in the 15-45 keV nominal energy range, providing crossed one-dimensional images of the X-ray sky with an on-axis angular resolution of 6 arcmin, over a field of view in excess of 1 steradian. It was designed as the hard X-ray monitor of the AGILE space mission, a small satellite of the Italian Space Agency devoted to image the gamma-ray sky in the 30 MeV - 50 GeV energy band. The AGILE mission was launched in a low-earth orbit on 23^{rd} April 2007. In this paper we describe the SuperAGILE experiment, its construction and test processes, and its performance before flight, based on the on-ground test and calibrations., Comment: Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A, in press. Full version with figures included in the text, now available at: ftp://vesta.rm.iasf.cnr.it/pub/mferoci/ It will also be linked at the official AGILE web pages

Published
2007
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45. SuperAGILE onboard electronics and ground test instrumentation

Author

Geiland Porrovecchio, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, Francesco Lazzarotto, Massimo Rapisarda, Ettore Del Monte, Alda Rubini, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, Paolo Soffitta, Ennio Morelli, Marcello Mastropietro, and Enrico Costa

Subjects
Digital electronics, Physics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics, X-ray imager, business.industry, Instrumentation, Detector, Test instrumentation, STRIPS, Silicon microstrip, law.invention, Optics, law, Gamma Ray Bursts, Angular resolution, Satellite, Electronics, Coded mask, Spectral resolution, business
Abstract

In this paper we describe the electronics of the SuperAGILE X-ray imager on-board AGILE satellite and the instrumentation developed to test and improve the Front-End and digital electronics of the flight model of the imager. Although the working principle of the instrument is very well established, and the conceptual scheme simple, the budget and mechanical constraints of the AGILE small mission made necessary the introduction of new elements in SuperAGILE, regarding both the mechanics and the electronics. In fact the instrument is contained in a View the MathML source?44×44×16cm3 volume, but the required performance is quite ambitious, leading us to equip a sensitive area of View the MathML source?1350cm2 with 6144 Silicon ??strips detectors with a pitch of View the MathML source121?m and a total length of View the MathML source?18.2cm. The result is a very light and power-cheap imager with a good sensitivity (View the MathML source?15mCrab in 1 day in View the MathML source15-45keV), high angular resolution View the MathML source(6arcmin) and gross spectral resolution. The test-equipment is versatile, and can be easily modified to test FEE based on self-triggered, data-driven and sparse-readout ASICs such as XA family chips.

Published
2007
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46. Instrumental and scientific simulations of the LOFT Wide Field Monitor

Author

Y. Evangelista, Marco Feroci, Riccardo Campana, Christian Schmid, and I. Donnarumma

Subjects
Physics, X-ray astronomy, Payload, media_common.quotation_subject, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Flux, FOS: Physical sciences, Neutron star, Sky, Bulge, Primary (astronomy), Observatory, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), media_common, Remote sensing, astro-ph.IM
Abstract

The Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT) is one of the five candidates that were considered by ESA as an M3 mission (with launch in 2022-2024). It is specifically designed to exploit the diagnostics of very rapid X-ray flux and spectral variability that directly probe the motion of matter down to distances very close to black holes and neutron stars, as well as the physical state of ultradense matter. The LOFT scientific payload is composed of the Large Area Detector (LAD), devoted to spectral-timing observation, and the Wide Field Monitor (WFM), whose primary goal it is to monitor the X-ray sky for transient events that need to be followed up with the LAD, and to measure the long-term variability of galactic X-ray sources and localize gamma-ray bursts. Here we describe the simulations carried out to optimize the WFM design and to characterize the instrument response to both isolated sources and crowded fields in the proximity of the galactic bulge., Proc. SPIE 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 914468

Published
2015

47. The Large Area Detector of LOFT: the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing

Author

Dom Walton, Claudio Labanti, J.-Y. Seyler, Philipp Azzarello, E. Del Monte, C. Feldman, G.W. Fraser, Giuseppe Bertuccio, Martino Marisaldi, Enrico Bozzo, Slawomir Suchy, A. Rachevski, C. Tenzer, M. Ahangarianabhari, Andrea Santangelo, Fabio Muleri, M. Hailey, P. Cais, Adrian Martindale, Silvia Zane, Mauro Orlandini, N. Zampa, A. Vacchi, S. Di Cosimo, G. Zampa, Marco Barbera, Martin Pohl, Phil Uttley, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, Berend Winter, L. Bradley, René Hudec, D. Macera, A. de Rosa, Marco Grassi, T. Kennedy, Teresa Mineo, Y. Favre, Christian Schmid, V. Petracek, P. Bodin, J. W. den Herder, Paul S. Smith, Alain Cros, A. Argan, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, J. Coker, Piero Malcovati, M. Nowak, Didier Barret, Emanuele Perinati, Paolo Soffitta, Franck Cadoux, F. Fuschino, Riccardo Campana, Jörn Wilms, Giuseppe Baldazzi, Zane, S., Walton, D., Kennedy, T., Feroci, M., Den Herder, J., Ahangarianabhari, M., Argan, A., Azzarello, P., Baldazzi, G., Barbera, M., Barret, D., Bertuccio, G., Bodin, P., Bozzo, E., Bradley, L., Cadoux, F., Cais, P., Campana, R., Coker, J., Cros, A., Del Monte, E., De Rosa, A., Di Cosimo, S., Donnarumma, I., Evangelista, Y., Favre, Y., Feldman, C., Fraser, G., Fuschino, F., Grassi, M., Hailey, M., Hudec, R., Labanti, C., Malcovati, P., Macera, D., Marisaldi, M., Martindale, A., Mineo, T., Muleri, F., Nowak, M., Orlandini, M., Pacciani, L., Perinati, E., Petracek, V., Pohl, M., Rachevski, A., Smith, P., Santangelo, A., Seyler, J., Schmid, C., Soffitta, P., Suchy, S., Tenzer, C., Uttley, P., Vacchi, A., Zampa, G., Zampa, N., Wilms, J., Winter, B., Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), University College of London [London] (UCL), FORMATION STELLAIRE 2014, Laboratoire d'astrodynamique, d'astrophysique et d'aéronomie de bordeaux (L3AB), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux [Pessac] (LAB), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Bordeaux (UB), Interactions et dynamique des environnements de surface (IDES), Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)

Subjects
[PHYS.ASTR.IM]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysic [astro-ph.IM], Observatories, Sensors, X-rays, Equipment and services, X-ray sources, Computer science, FOS: Physical sciences, 01 natural sciences, 7. Clean energy, X-ray, Loft, Observatory, Range (aeronautics), 0103 physical sciences, Electronic, Timing, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 010306 general physics, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), Compact Objects, Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Condensed Matter Physics, Computer Science Applications1707 Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Applied Mathematics, Remote sensing, Millisecond, 010308 nuclear & particles physics, Large area detector, [SDU.ASTR.IM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]/Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysic [astro-ph.IM], Neutron star, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, astro-ph.IM
Abstract

LOFT (Large Observatory for X-ray Timing) is one of the five candidates that were considered by ESA as an M3 mission (with launch in 2022-2024) and has been studied during an extensive assessment phase. It is specifically designed to perform fast X-ray timing and probe the status of the matter near black holes and neutron stars. Its pointed instrument is the Large Area Detector (LAD), a 10 m 2 -class instrument operating in the 2-30keV range, which holds the capability to revolutionise studies of variability from X-ray sources on the millisecond time scales. The LAD instrument has now completed the assessment phase but was not down-selected for launch. However, during the assessment, most of the trade-offs have been closed leading to a robust and well documented design that will be re- proposed in future ESA calls. In this talk, we will summarize the characteristics of the LAD design and give an overview of the expectations for the instrument capabilities., Proc. SPIE 9144, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2014: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 91442W

Published
2015
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48. The Transient Universe with the Square Kilometre Array

Author

Zsolt Paragi, Adam Stewart, Shami Chatterjee, Tara Murphy, Jean-Pierre Macquart, Rob Fender, Adam Deller, and I. Donnarumma

Subjects
Physics, Square kilometre array, media_common.quotation_subject, Astronomy, Transient (oscillation), Universe, media_common
Published
2015
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49. Calibration of AGILE-GRID with in-flight data and Monte Carlo simulations

Author

F. Perotti, Ennio Morelli, Massimiliano Fiorini, Sandro Mereghetti, G. Valentini, P. W. Cattaneo, E. Moretti, C. Pittori, A. Rappoldi, V. Vittorini, P. Santolamazza, T. Contessi, G. De Paris, E. Vallazza, Francesco Longo, Fulvio Gianotti, I. Donnarumma, M. Trifoglio, A. Pellizzoni, M. Galli, Piergiorgio Picozza, M. Giusti, Alda Rubini, G. Piano, Paolo Giommi, A. Morselli, Y. Evangelista, F. Verrecchia, G. Di Cocco, Francesco Lazzarotto, E. Striani, Attilio Ferrari, Valentina Fioretti, Marco Tavani, S. Sabatini, Paolo Lipari, A. Argan, Maura Pilia, I. Lapshov, F. Lucarelli, Sergio Colafrancesco, Guido Barbiellini, E. Del Monte, Martino Marisaldi, G. Pucella, Massimo Rapisarda, Alessio Trois, F. Fuschino, Andrea Bulgarelli, M. Prest, D. Zanello, Enrico Costa, C. Labanti, A. Giuliani, P. A. Caraveo, A. W. Chen, S. Vercellone, Marco Feroci, Luigi Pacciani, Paolo Soffitta, Rapisarda, M., Pucella, G., Tadayuki Takahashi, Stephen S. Murray, Jan-Willem A. den Herder, A. W., Chen, A., Argan, A., Bulgarelli, P. W., Cattaneo, A., Giuliani, C., Pittori, G., Pucella, M., Tavani, A., Troi, G., Barbiellini, P., Caraveo, S., Colafrancesco, E., Costa, Paris, G., Monte, E., Cocco, G., I., Donnarumma, Y., Evangelista, A., Ferrari, M., Feroci, M., Fiorini, F., Fuschino, M., Galli, F., Gianotti, P., Giommi, M., Giusti, C., Labanti, I., Lapshov, F., Lazzarotto, P., Lipari, Longo, Francesco, F., Lucarelli, M., Marisaldi, S., Mereghetti, E., Morelli, E., Moretti, A., Morselli, L., Pacciani, A., Pellizzoni, F., Perotti, G., Piano, P., Picozza, M., Pilia, M., Prest, M., Rapisarda, A., Rappoldi, A., Rubini, S., Sabatini, P., Santolamazza, P., Soffitta, E., Striani, M., Trifoglio, L., Salotti, E., Vallazza, S., Vercellone, F., Verrecchia, V., Vittorini, D., Zanello, T., Contessi, BARBIELLINI AMIDEI, Guido, G., De Pari, E., Del Monte, G., Di Cocco, V., Fioretti, Moretti, Elena, and G., Valentini

Subjects
Photon, Monte Carlo method, X-ray telescope, techniques: image processing, Astrophysics, telescope, Orbital mechanics, Vela, High Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy, law.invention, law, imaging detector, Physics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE), Instrumentation: detector, image processing [techniques], detector [instrumentation], Detector, agile, Astrophysics::Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Calibrations, Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, Interpolation, Point spread function, gamma ray source, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, FOS: Physical sciences, Context (language use), Telescope, Optics, data analysis [methods], Calibration, instrumentation: detectors, gamma rays: general, telescopes, methods: data analysis, Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM), business.industry, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Kalman filter, calibration, silicon tracker, Computational physics, Space and Planetary Science, Gamma rays: general, Instrumentation: detectors, Methods: data analysis, Techniques: image processing, Telescopes, Orbit (dynamics), AGILE satellite, business, general [gamma rays], Methods: data analysi
Abstract

Context: AGILE is a gamma-ray astrophysics mission which has been in orbit since 23 April 2007 and continues to operate reliably. The gamma-ray detector, AGILE-GRID, has observed Galactic and extragalactic sources, many of which were collected in the first AGILE Catalog. Aims: We present the calibration of the AGILE-GRID using in-flight data and Monte Carlo simulations, producing Instrument Response Functions (IRFs) for the effective area A_eff), Energy Dispersion Probability (EDP), and Point Spread Function (PSF), each as a function of incident direction in instrument coordinates and energy. Methods: We performed Monte Carlo simulations at different gamma-ray energies and incident angles, including background rejection filters and Kalman filter-based gamma-ray reconstruction. Long integrations of in-flight observations of the Vela, Crab and Geminga sources in broad and narrow energy bands were used to validate and improve the accuracy of the instrument response functions. Results: The weighted average PSFs as a function of spectra correspond well to the data for all sources and energy bands. Conclusions: Changes in the interpolation of the PSF from Monte Carlo data and in the procedure for construction of the energy-weighted effective areas have improved the correspondence between predicted and observed fluxes and spectra of celestial calibration sources, reducing false positives and obviating the need for post-hoc energy-dependent scaling factors. The new IRFs have been publicly available from the Agile Science Data Centre since November 25, 2011, while the changes in the analysis software will be distributed in an upcoming release.

Published
2013

50. Upper limits on the high-energy emission from gamma-ray bursts observed by AGILE-GRID

Author

Arnaud Ferrari, Paolo Lipari, M. Cardillo, F. Fuschino, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, A. Pellizzoni, Elena Moretti, Paolo Soffitta, A. Giuliani, Marco Tavani, L. Salotti, A. Rappoldi, G. Di Cocco, E. Del Monte, Francesco Longo, S. Sabatini, A. Argan, M. Galli, Andrea Bulgarelli, M. Olivo, C. Pittori, F. Verrecchia, F. Lucarelli, M. Fiorini, G. Pucella, Enrico Costa, M. Giusti, Sandro Mereghetti, E. Striani, Marco Feroci, P. Santolamazza, Luigi Pacciani, Francesco Lazzarotto, L. Nava, V. Vittorini, F. Perotti, A. W. Chen, I. Lapshov, M. Trifoglio, D. Zanello, P. Giommi, Alda Rubini, P. W. Cattaneo, S. Vercellone, Fulvio Gianotti, Filippo D'Ammando, Claudio Labanti, P. Picozza, S. Cutini, M. Rapisarda, S. Colafrancesco, Martino Marisaldi, Maura Pilia, L. A. Antonelli, Alessio Trois, M. Prest, G. Piano, P. A. Caraveo, R. Desiante, G. Barbiellini, A. Morselli, E. Vallazza, Università degli Studi di Udine - University of Udine [Italie], Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut) (MPI-P), AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC (UMR_7164)), Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino (INFN, Sezione di Torino), Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Department of Physics and Astronomy [Uppsala], Uppsala University, Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), I.C.R.E, Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali - INAF (IAPS), Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF), Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Bologna (IASF-Bo), Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica - Milano (IASF-MI), Dept. of Physics, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata [Roma], Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Natl Res Council, Perugia Div, Institute of Plant Genetics, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma 3 (INFN, Sezione di Roma 3), INAF-Cagliari Astronomical Observatory, Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica cosmica - Palermo (IASF-Pa), Universita degli studi di Napoli 'Parthenope' [Napoli], Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS (IN2P3)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Università degli Studi di Napoli 'Parthenope' = University of Naples (PARTHENOPE), Longo, Francesco, E., Moretti, L., Nava, R., Desiante, M., Olivo, Monte, E., A., Rappoldi, F., Fuschino, M., Marisaldi, A., Giuliani, S., Cutini, M., Feroci, E., Costa, C., Pittori, M., Tavani, A., Argan, G., Barbiellini, A., Bulgarelli, P., Caraveo, M., Cardillo, P. W., Cattaneo, A. W., Chen, F., D'Ammando, Cocco, G., I., Donnarumma, Y., Evangelista, A., Ferrari, M., Fiorini, M., Galli, F., Gianotti, M., Giusti, C., Labanti, I., Lapshov, F., Lazzarotto, P., Lipari, S., Mereghetti, A., Morselli, L., Pacciani, A., Pellizzoni, F., Perotti, G., Piano, P., Picozza, M., Pilia, M., Prest, G., Pucella, M., Rapisarda, A., Rubini, S., Sabatini, P., Soffitta, E., Striani, M., Trifoglio, A., Troi, E., Vallazza, S., Vercellone, V., Vittorini, D., Zanello, L. A., Antonelli, S., Colafrancesco, P., Giommi, P., Santolamazza, F., Verrecchia, F., Lucarelli, L., Salotti, Longo F, Moretti E, Nava L, Desiante R, Olivo M, Del Monte E, Rappoldi A, Fuschino F, Marisaldi M, Giuliani A, Cutini S, Feroci M, Costa E, Pittori C, Tavani M, Argan A, Barbiellini G, Bulgarelli A, Caraveo P, Cardillo M, Cattaneo PW, Chen AW, DAmmando F, Di Cocco G, Donnarumma I, Evangelista Y, Ferrari A, Fiorini M, Galli M, Gianotti F, Giusti M, Labanti C, Lapshov I, Lazzarotto F, Lipari P, Mereghetti S, Morselli A, Pacciani L, Pellizzoni A, Perotti F, Piano G, Picozza P, Pilia M, Prest M, Pucella G, Rapisarda M, Rubini A, Sabatini S, Soffitta P, Striani E, Trifoglio M, Trois A, Vallazza E, Vercellone S, Vittorini V, Zanello D, Antonelli LA, Colafrancesco S, Giommi P, Santolamazza P, Verrecchia F, Lucarelli F, and Salotti L

Subjects
High energy, Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, gamma-ray burst: general, Context (language use), Astrophysics, general [gamma-ray burst], 01 natural sciences, 7. Clean energy, Bayesian data analysis, AGILE, gamma ray burst, 0103 physical sciences, 010306 general physics, 010303 astronomy & astrophysics, ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS, Physics, [PHYS]Physics [physics], Astronomy, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Grid, Space and Planetary Science, Gamma-ray burst, [PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]
Abstract

Context. The detection and the characterization of the high energy emission component from individual gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is one of the key science objectives of the currently operating gamma-ray satellite AGILE, launched in April 2007. In its first two years of operation AGILE detected three GRBs with photons of energy larger than 30 MeV. One more GRB was detected in AGILE third operation year, while operating in spinning mode. Aims. For the 64 other GRBs localized during the period July 2007 to October 2009 in the field of view of the AGILE Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID), but not detected by this instrument, we estimate the count and flux upper limits on the GRB high energy emission in the AGILE-GRID energy band (30 MeV-3 GeV). Methods. To calculate the count upper limits, we adopted a Bayesian approach. The flux upper limits are derived using several assumptions on the high-energy spectral behavior. For 28 GRBs with available prompt spectral information, a flux upper limit and the comparison with the expected flux estimated from spectral extrapolation of the Band spectrum to the 30 MeV-3 GeV band are provided. Moreover, upper limits on the flux under the assumption of an extra power law component dominating the 30 MeV-3 GeV band are calculated for all GRBs and considering four different values for the spectral photon index. Finally, we performed a likelihood upper limit on the possible delayed emission up to 1 h after the GRB. Results. The estimated flux upper limits range between 1 x 10(-4) and similar to 2 x 10(-2) photons cm(-2) s(-1) and generally lie above the flux estimated from the extrapolation of the prompt emission in the 30 MeV-3 GeV band. A notable case is GRB 080721, where the AGILE-GRID upper limit suggests a steeper spectral index or the presence of a cut-off in the high energy part of the Band prompt spectrum. The four GRBs detected by AGILE-GRID show high-energy (30 MeV-3 GeV) to low-energy (1 keV-10 MeV) fluence ratios similar to those estimated in this paper for the 64 GRBs without GRID detection, favoring the possibility that AGILE-GRID detected only high-fluence, hard GRBs. From the flux upper limits derived in this work we put some constraint on high-energy radiation from the afterglow emission and from synchrotron self Compton emission in internal shocks.

Published
2012
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