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CGRO/COMPTEL Low-Level Data and Maps

Metadata Updated: February 6, 2026

COMPTEL is both the name of the Imaging Compton Telescope on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) and the name of this HEASARC database table which allows the user to select low-level data and maps produced by this instrument. Much more information on the COMPTEL instrument, data products, and data analysis techniques can be obtained from the Compton Observatory Science Support Center (COSSC) web site at <pre> <a href="https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/cgro/">https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/cgro/</a>; </pre> and from the article in Legacy No. 7 on the HEASARC CGRO Data Archive <pre> <a href="https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/journal/cgro7.html">https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/journal/cgro7.html</a>; </pre> Interactions in COMPTEL occur in a two stage process: First, a Compton collision occurs in one of seven (low-Z) liquid scintillators and is usually then completely absorbed in one of fourteen (high-Z) NaI(Tl) scintillators. The unusual aspect of this detector is that the location of the gamma-ray on the sky is given by an annulus and not a point. The correlation of many events enables the localization of point sources or the creation of sky maps. Time-of-flight measurements, pulse shape discrimination and anti-coincidence shields are used to reject background events. COMPTEL has a wide field of view (about 1 steradian, equivalent to a FWHM of about 40 degrees), an angular resolution under optimal conditions of about 1 degree, and an energy resolution that ranges from 5-10% at 1 MeV. During Phase 1 of the CGRO mission, COMPTEL completed the first all-sky survey in the energy range of 0.75-30 MeV (in four energy bands). In addition, COMPTEL can measure energy spectra of solar flares or bright cosmic gamma-ray bursts between 0.1-10 MeV, and neutrons from solar flares. This is a service provided by NASA HEASARC .

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date February 6, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date February 6, 2026
Publisher High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center
Maintainer
Identifier ivo://nasa.heasarc/comptel
Data Last Modified 2026-02-03
Category Astrophysics
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 026:00
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id 2ceb7e7b-8708-4e38-bb04-31c806f16439
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/W3Browse/all/comptel.html
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash dfe7f8720567c340c34520f5a189e54a95307f4af6d21c3f079dbc64e12bf4fc
Source Schema Version 1.1

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