Monday 22 March, 2:30 pm, Curia II
Steven Boggs (SSL, Berkeley)
@: boggs AT ssl.berkeley.edu
The Advanced Compton Telescope: Witness to the Fires of Creation

ACT, the next major step in gamma-ray astronomy in NASA's roadmap, will probe the nuclear fires where
chemical elements are formed. ACT will study study new nuclei produced in Type Ia supernovae explosions
in the Virgo Cluster and beyond, as well as study the engines of nucleosynthesis in our Galaxy. The gamma-ray
astronomy community is beginning a 1-year concept study to identify the key technological developments to enable
this mission. I will give an overview of current gamma-ray telescopes, as well as discuss the scientific motivations
and potential enabling technologies for ACT, requiring two orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity
over current instruments.