Latest News
| Date | News |
|---|
| July 26, 2010 | GRB 100724B: AGILE/GRID analysis
New GCN issued: GCN #10996 (A. Giuliani et al.)
The preliminary GRB lightcurves of AGILE MCAL and GRID instruments are shown in the figure below.
| | July 26, 2010 | GRB 100724B: gamma-ray detection by AGILE
New GCN issued: GCN #10994 (M. Marisaldi et al.)
| | July 6, 2010 | AGILE AO-3 list of approved targets
The official list of all AGILE AO-3 approved targets is now available here.
In all cases of gamma-ray sources partially or fully fitting the proposed error boxes specified by different groups, the AGILE Mission Board encourages collaboration among these groups .
| | July 2, 2010 | AGILE gamma-ray detection of Cygnus X-1
New ATel issued: ATel #2715 (S. Sabatini et al.)
| | July 1, 2010 | Funding of data analysis projects (ADAE): deadline postponed to July 16, 2010
The deadline for ADAE proposal submission (ASI-INAF agreement I/009/10/0) has been postponed. The new deadline is July 16, 2010
| | June 28, 2010 | Swift follow-up of the blazar 4C+21.35 (PKS 1222+21) after a bright gamma-ray flare
New ATel issued: ATel #2698 (F. Verrecchia et al.)
| | June 21, 2010 | AGILE and Fermi detection of intense gamma-ray flare from the blazar 4C+21.35 (PKS 1222+21)
New AGILE ATel issued: ATel #2686 (E. Striani et al.)
New Fermi ATel issued: ATel #2687 (G. Iafrate et al.)
On June 19, 2010, AGILE and Fermi reported the detection of intense gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from the Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar 4C+21.35, also known as PKS 1222+21.
Flaring activity from this source has been also detected in the past few days by the MAGIC (ATel #2684) at energies above 100 GeV.
| | May 28, 2010 | AGILE detection of gamma-ray emission from Cygnus X-3
New ATel issued: ATel #2645 (A. Bulgarelli et al.).
| | May 28, 2010 | GRB 100528A: SuperAGILE Localization of a Long GRB
New GCN issued: GCN #10810 (E. Del Monte et al.)
| | May 26, 2010 | AGILE detection of gamma-ray emission from 4C+21.35 (PKS 1222+21)
New ATel issued: ATel #2641 (A. Bulgarelli et al.)
| | May 10, 2010 | AGILE detection of gamma-ray emission from the Cygnus X-3 region
New ATel issued: ATel #2609 (A. Bulgarelli et al.)
| | April 14, 2010 | AGILE detection of the new unidentified gamma-ray source AGL J0906-1241
New ATel issued: ATel #2552 (C. Pittori et al.)
| | April 14, 2010 | AGILE detects enhanced gamma-ray emission from the blazar PKS 2142-758
New ATel issued: ATel #2551 (F. Verrecchia et al.)
From 2010-04-10 11:30 UT to 2010-04-12 21:00 UT, AGILE has been detecting an increasing gamma-ray flux above 100 MeV from a source positionally consistent with the blazar PKS 2142-758.
The source does not appear in the latest versions of gamma-ray catalogs but a recent gamma-ray flaring episode from this blazar was reported by the Fermi LAT Collaboration in ATel #2539.
| | April 9, 2010 | 8th AGILE Mini-Workshop - The Third Birthday
We are pleased to announce the AGILE 8th Workshop to be held in Bologna (Italy) INAF-IASF, Area Ricerca, on April 28, 2010.
The Workshop is aimed at providing an overview of the most relevant astrophysics results with a special afternoon session on Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes (TGFs).
Information about the Workshop, the registration form, the preliminary wokshop program, the logistic information can be found at http://www.asdc.asi.it/8thagilemeeting/index.php
For organizational purposes please notify your participation by registering at the workshop web site.
| | April 7, 2010 | GRB 100331B: SuperAGILE Localization of a Long GRB
SuperAGILE detected a long gamma ray burst on March 31, 2010, at 21:08:38 UT.
The burst position was reconstructed as:
RA(J2000) = 20h 11m 56.95s
Dec(J2000) = -11d 04' 02.04"
with an uncertainty of 6' radius to account for possible systematics error due to the AGILE satellite spinning mode.
A description of the burst can be found in GCN #10560 (E. Del Monte et al.)
| | March 30, 2010 | AGILE AO3 now open
The Italian Space Agency (ASI) announces the release of the third Announcement of Opportunity (AO3) for the Guest Observer Program of the AGILE mission.
AO3 key dates:
- Release of AO3: March 30, 2010
- Due date for proposals: April 30, 2010
- AO3 Observing Period (Cycle-3): December 1, 2009 - November 30, 2010
The complete documentation for this AO3 can be found on-line at the AGILE-ASDC web pages http://agile.asdc.asi.it/ao3.html.
| | March 25, 2010 | AGILE detection of a gamma ray flare from the Cygnus X-1 region
New ATel issued: ATel #2512 (A. Bulgarelli et al.).
| | March 16, 2010 | AGILE detects enhanced gamma-ray emission from the blazar PKS 0402-362
New ATel issued: ATel #2484 (E. Striani et al.) .
| | March 4, 2010 | SuperAGILE detection of an X-ray burst from 4U 1608-522
New ATel issued: ATel #2461 (E. Del Monte et al.).
On March 3, 2010 at 06:33:25 UT SuperAGILE detected an X-ray burst from a sky position consistent with the neutron star transient and atoll source 4U 1608-522. The SuperAGILE detection revealed a reactivation of the source, as confirmed by the MAXI/GSC detection of an X-ray brightening of the persistent emission (ATel #2462, M. Morii et al.)
The SuperAGILE light curve of the event is shown in the figure.
| | February 24, 2010 | AGILE detects enhanced gamma-ray emission from the blazar PKS 0537-441
New ATel issued: ATel #2454 (F. Lucarelli et al.)
| | February 15, 2010 | The AGILE satellite detects "super-energetic TGFs" that could affect air travel
"Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes" (TGF) are phenomena of terrestrial (atmospheric) origin only lasting a few milliseconds that are likely associated to very intense tropical thunderstorms. The AGILE satellites detected several of these events since its first months of operations.
The AGILE equatorial orbit, together with its advanced payload capabilities, allowed the discovery of TGFs with gamma-ray energy reaching up to 50 MeV.
Such highly energetic radiation must be produced in atmospheric conditions requiring potential differences of 100 Mega Volts or more, hundreds of times larger than that required to produce the usual terrestrial lightning.
As announced in a joint press release that can be found on the ASI and INAF websites, the AGILE Team and ASI are collaborating with ENAC (Ente Nazionale per l'Aviazione Civile) to understand the possible hazards to air traffic that these very energetic atmospheric events might cause.
THE AGILE paper "Detection of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes up to 40 MeV by the AGILE satellite" by M. Marisaldi et al. (2009), previously announced on this website on October 29th 2009, is now being published in the Journal of Geophysical research and it is accessible on-line at:
http://www.asdc.asi.it/news/Marisaldi2009_AGILE-TGF.pdf
| | February 3, 2010 | AGILE confirmation of the new gamma-ray flaring source J0109+6134 near the Galactic plane
New ATel issued: ATel #2416 (S. Sabatini et al.)
An AGILE gamma-ray intensity map of the field E>100 MeV in Galactic coordinates (AGILE error box in green color and FERMI detection in grey color) can be found here.
| | January 25, 2010 | AGILE detection of AGL J2206+6203, a new unidentified gamma-ray source
New ATel issued: ATel #2403 (A. Bulgarelli et al.)
| | January 14, 2010 | AGILE detection of enhanced gamma-ray emission from the blazar PKS 1510-089
New ATel issued: ATel #2385 (E. Striani et al.)
| | January 8, 2010 | AGILE detection of a gamma-ray flare from the blazar 3C 273
New ATel issued: ATel #2376 (L. Pacciani et al.)
| | December 31, 2009 | AGILE Detection of Gamma-Ray Emission from the Vela Pulsar Wind Nebula
The AGILE detection of Vela X, described in the Science paper "Detection of Gamma-Ray Emission from the Vela Pulsar Wind Nebula with AGILE", (A. Pellizzoni et al.), is the first experimental confirmation of gamma-ray emission (E> 100 MeV) from a pulsar wind nebula.
The AGILE detection establishes Pulsar Wind Nebulae as a new class of GeV gamma-ray sources.
| | December 28, 2009 | AGILE detection of AGL J1023-3738 , a new high-Galactic latitude unidentified source
New ATel issued: ATel #2361 (E. Striani et al.)
| | December 22, 2009 | All AGILE Cycle-1 Data Now Public
The proprietary period for the last 9 Cycle-1 Observation Blocks (from OB 5900 to OB 6400) has expired, thus the entire Cycle-1 dataset from December 1, 2007 to Novembre 30, 2008 is now public and available from the ASDC Multimission Archive webpage http://www.asdc.asi.it/mmia/ for the AGILE Mission.
This new public delivery reflects the current best understanding and testing of calibrations, background rejection, and processing results.
| | December 15, 2009 | AGILE detection of a gamma-ray flare from the blazar PKS 1222+216
New ATel issued: ATel #2348 (F. Verrecchia et al.)
| | December 3, 2009 | AGILE detects an extraordinary gamma-ray activity from the FSRQ 3C 454.3
New ATel issued: ATel #2326 (E. Striani et al.).
The AGILE Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector (GRID) has been detecting an extraordinary intense gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from the flat spectrum radio quasar 3C 454.3. The AGILE quick-look analysis yields a source flux of about (1800 +/- 400)e-8 ph/cm2/sec (E > 100 MeV). This flux value greatly exceeds the value reported by AGILE yesterday in ATel #2322 (E. Striani et al.), showing a rapid increase (about 80%) of the gamma-ray flux of 3C 454.3 in the last 24 hours. See ATel #2326 for further details.
| | December 2, 2009 | AGILE detects intense and prolonged gamma-ray activity from the FSRQ 3C 454.3
New ATel issued: ATel #2322 (E. Striani et al.)
| | November 23, 2009 | AGILE confirms high gamma-ray state of GB6 B1310+4844
New ATel issued: ATel #2310 (A. Bulgarelli et al.)
| | November 19, 2009 | AGILE first detection of gamma-rays above 100 MeV from the microquasar Cygnus X-3: to appear in Nature
The paper "Discovery of extreme particle acceleration in the microquasar Cygnus X-3", by M. Tavani et al., 2009, to appear in Nature (see also arXiv:0910.5344), reports on the AGILE detection of gamma-ray flaring emission from the microquasar Cygnus X-3, which tends to occur before the onset of powerful relativistic radio jets.
| | November 12, 2009 | AGILE science operations resumed on November 4th, 2009
On November 4, 2009 at 12:25:54 the AGILE scientific operations restarted. The instrument is operating nominally, and all detectors are on and acquiring data. The satellite is currently in a safe spinning mode, with the fixed solar panels pointing towards the Sun and the GRID instrument FOV covering a good fraction of the whole sky.
In the figure below we show a preliminary 100-orbit gamma-ray intensity map above 100 MeV in the spinning configuration.
| | October 29, 2009 | AGILE paper on Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes now available
The AGILE paper: "Detection of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes up to 40 MeV by the AGILE satellite", M. Marisaldi et al. 2009, is now accessible on-line here. The paper was accepted for publication in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Copyright 2009 American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted.
| | October 23, 2009 | AGILE science operations interrupted
On Sunday, October 18th 2009, one of the subsystems on board the AGILE S/C suffered a malfunction that caused the satellite to leave its nominal pointing mode and switch to the "spinning" control mode. The "spinning" control mode guarantees the safety of the Spacecraft and of the Payload.
Analysis is in progress in order to assess the status of the satellite and the possibility to restart operations as soon as possible.
| | October 15, 2009 | AGILE detection of the gamma-ray blazar PKS 1830-211
New ATel issued: ATel #2242 (E. Striani et al.)
| | October 14, 2009 | New AGILE public software package and test dataset available
We are pleased to inform you that a new software package for AGILE-GRID data analysis is now available from the AGILE Data Center webpage http://agile.asdc.asi.it/public/AGILE_SW_4.0_SourceCode/
The software is available both for AGILE Guest Observers and for general public users. The new AGILE software package BUILD_GRID_4.0.tgz is delivered together with a test dataset, test_dataset_4.0.tgz, and it is intended for the scientific software environment setup and testing.
Warning: Since the newly delivered spacecraft auxiliary (LOG) files have a very accurate time resolution (100 msec), several GB of available disk space are needed for AGILE data analysis.
The GRID analysis software is continuously evolving and regularly updated by the AGILE instrument Team and delivered to the AGILE Data Center (ADC) located in Frascati at the ASI Science Data Center for further testing, standardisation and integration into the ADC data analysis system.
This public delivery reflects the current best understanding and testing of calibrations, background rejection, and processing results.
| | October 14, 2009 | Reprocessed AGILE Public Data Now Avalaible
The AGILE-GRID public data release (v2.0) is now available from the ASDC Multi Mission Interactive Archive webpage: http://www.asdc.asi.it/mmia/ which can be also reached from the AGILE home page: http://agile.asdc.asi.it by clicking: Public --> Data Release
The current set of public GRID data corresponds to the first 20 AGILE observations of Cycle-1, from December 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008.
Plese note that all Cycle-1 OB data already included in previous deliveries have been reprocessed with the latest available software.
MAIN IMPROVEMENTS:
- Event filters:
in previous data delivery a conservative event filter (F4) was used, optimized to select gamma-ray events within the central Field of View zone (< 40 deg radius) at the expenses of the effective area. The new standard AGILE event filter (FM) is optimized up to 60 deg off-axis.
- Spacecraft auxiliary (LOG) files:
the newly delivered auxiliary LOG files have a very accurate time resolution (100 msec)
This new public delivery reflects the current best understanding and testing of calibrations, background rejection, and processing results.
The previous public data release (v1.0) is still available from the MMIA AGILE webpage by selecting: Old Processing Archive.
Data delivery details can be found in the AGILE_data_release_note_v2.0 (txt, pdf)
| | October 14, 2009 | GRB 091010: SuperAGILE Localization, AGILE-MCAL measurement and GRID upper limit
SuperAGILE detected a long gamma ray burst on 10 October 2009,at 02:43:09 UT.
The burst position was reconstructed as:
RA(J2000) = 19h 54m 40.51s (298.669 deg)
Dec(J2000) = -22d 32' 17.36" (-22.538 deg)
with an uncertainty of 3' radius.
A description of the burst can be found in GCN #10004 (I. Donnarumma et al.) and GCN #10005.
AGILE-MCAL measurement and GRID upper limit for GRB 091010 can be found in GCN #10022 (M. Marisaldi et al.)
In the figure below we report the superposition of the lightcurves of GRB 091010 as detected by SuperAGILE (on top, 17 - 60 keV) and MCAL (at bottom, 330 keV - 2 MeV). No significant signal is detected in MCAL above 2 MeV .
| | October 14, 2009 | SuperAGILE detection of a type I X-ray burst from a position consistent with HETE J1900.1-2455
On 9 October 2009 02:57:43 UT SuperAGILE detected a type I X-ray burst from a sky position consistent with the accreting millisecond pulsar HETE J1900.1-2455.
SuperAGILE detection details can be found in ATEL #2238 (Y. Evangelista et al.)
| | August 10, 2009 | AGILE AO-2 list of approved targets
The official list of all AGILE AO-2 approved targets is now available here
| | August 7, 2009 | The AGILE 7th Workshop: informations and updates
As previously announced on July 23, the scientific AGILE Workshop: "The Bright Gamma-Ray Sky", will be held in Frascati (Italy), ASDC-ESRIN on 29 September - 1 October, 2009.
Preliminary program and other useful information are now available at the 7th AGILE Workshop website: http://www.asdc.asi.it/bgrsmeeting/
| | July 23, 2009 | The AGILE 7th Workshop
We are pleased to announce the AGILE 7th Workshop: "The Bright Gamma-Ray Sky", to be held in Frascati (Italy), ASDC-ESRIN on 29 September - 1 October, 2009.
The Workshop is aimed at providing an overview of the most relevant recent discoveries in gamma-ray astrophysics, with particular emphasis on the multifrequency (radio, optical, X-ray, gamma-ray and TeV) observations of cosmic sources. We will focus also on how to strengthen the multifrequency response to alerts originating from the gamma-ray experiments.
Detailed information will follow shortly on this web site.
| | July 17, 2009 | A second set of AGILE-GRID data now publicly available: period May 10, 2008 - June 30, 2008
The second set AGILE-GRID data published corresponds to 3 AGILE observation blocks (OB) of Cycle-1 including one Target of Opportunity (ToO) which cover the period May 10, 2008 - June 30, 2008.
New public data are available (together with the first set released on June 10, 2009) from the ASDC Multi Mission Interactive Archive webpage: http://www.asdc.asi.it/mmia/ which can be also reached from the AGILE home page: http://agile.asdc.asi.it by clicking: Public --> Data Release
| | June 10, 2009 | AGILE Public Data Now Avalaible
The AGILE-GRID public data release (v1.0) is now available from the ASDC Multi Mission Interactive Archive webpage: http://www.asdc.asi.it/mmia/ which can be also reached from the AGILE home page: http://agile.asdc.asi.it by clicking: Public --> Data Release
This first set of GRID data gone public corresponds to the first 17 AGILE observations of Cycle-1 following the first year AGILE Baseline Pointing Plan (ABPP1) and including 2 Target of Opportunities (ToO) and 1 Partial Repointing.
Data delivery details can be found in the AGILE_data_release_note_v1.0 (txt, pdf)
| | May 22, 2009 | Now available: AGILE-GRID public software package and test dataset
We are pleased to inform you that a new software package for AGILE-GRID data analysis is now available from the AGILE Data Center webpage http://agile.asdc.asi.it/public
This release is available not only for AGILE Guest Observers, but also for general public users. The AGILE software package is delivered together with a test dataset and it is intended for the scientific software environment setup and testing in view of future public data releases.
The GRID analysis software is continuously evolving and regularly updated by the AGILE instrument Team and delivered to the AGILE Data Center (ADC) located in Frascati at the ASI Science Data Center for further testing, standardisation and integration into the ADC data analysis system.
This public delivery reflects the current best understanding and testing of calibrations, background rejection, and processing results.
| | May 11, 2009 | AGILE detection of GRB 090510
AGILE detected the remarkable short GRB 090510 and a new GCN Circular was issued on May 10, 2009 : GCN #9343 (F. Longo et al.).This is the first short GRB with emission above 100 MeV detected by AGILE.
| | May 8, 2009 | AGILE Software and Data Distribution News
We are pleased to inform you that a new software package for AGILE-GRID data analysis will be available from the AGILE Data Center webpage http://agile.asdc.asi.it starting from May 21, 2009. This release is designed not only for AGILE Guest Observers, but also for general public users. The AGILE software package will be delivered together with a test dataset and it is intended for the scientific software environment setup and testing in view of future public data releases.
Following the data distribution policy described in the AGILE Science Management Plan, a general public AGILE-GRID data release is foreseen for the beginning of June, at the end of the one year proprietary period starting from June 5, 2008, when Cycle-1 observers received data (collected during the period December 1, 2007 - May 10, 2008) in a format suitable for analysis and subsequent publication.
The GRID analysis software is continuously developed and updated by the AGILE instrument Team and delivered to the AGILE Data Center (ADC) located in Frascati at the ASI Science Data Center for further testing, standardisation and integration into the ADC data analysis system.
Following a recent update by the AGILE Team of the GRID software analysis tools, the public delivery of the software (previouly planned for today) will reflect the current best understanding and testing of calibrations, background rejection, and processing results.
| | April 21, 2009 | AGILE Detection of Gamma-ray Emission from the Eta-Carinae Region
| | April 19, 2009 | The candidate gamma-ray transient AGL J1734-3310 in the Galactic plane
On April 17, 2009 a new AGILE ATel was issued: ATel #2017 (A. Bulgarelliet al.), reporting the AGILE detection a possible candidate gamma-ray transient.
The candidate gamma-ray transient AGL J1734-3310 appears to be consistent in position with 1AGL J1736-3235 and also with the INTEGRAL unidentified source IGR J17354-3255.
The ATel#2017 was subsequently referred to by ATel #2019 (S. Vercellone et al.) and ATel#2022 (J.A. Tomsick) concerning Swift and Chandra follow-ups, respectively.
| | April 8, 2009 | 6th AGILE Workshop: information and updates
As announced on April 1, a Scientific Mini-Workshop: "AGILE: 2 years after" will be held in Milano on 22-23 April, 2009 in coincidence with the second anniversary of the launch of the AGILE Mission.
Preliminary program and other useful information are now available at the 6th AGILE Workshop web site: http://agile.asdc.asi.it/workshop2009.html
| | April 2, 2009 | AGILE Gamma-ray detection of GRB 090401B
The gamma ray burst 090401B (GCN #9066 and #9067, Schady et al. ) occurred in the field of view of AGILE, approximately 41 deg off-axis.
A description of the AGILE detection of the burst can be found in GCN #9069 (E. Moretti et al.).
A refined analysis of the AGILE-GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector) data of GRB 090401B confirms the gamma-ray detection of the GRB at energies above 30 MeV with a statistical significance larger than 4 for a 10-second integration after trigger, as reported in GCN #9075 (A. Giuliani et a.)
| | April 1, 2009 | AGILE satellite: 10.000th pass over the ASI Malindi Ground Station
On March 31, 2009 at 21:53:38 UTC the AGILE satellite successfully completed its 10.000th pass over the ASI Malindi Ground Station.
All satellite subsystems and scientific detectors are working nominally after almost 2 years after launch. This very positive result is obtained thanks to the efficient collaboration of all involved Agilists, ASI, INAF, INFN and CIFS scientists, industry colleagues and technical operators.
| | April 1, 2009 | AGILE: 2 years after (6th AGILE Workshop)
We are pleased to announce a Scientific Mini-Workshop in coincidence with the second anniversary of the launch of AGILE: "AGILE: 2 years after" to be held in Milano, 22-23 April, 2009 Congress Hall, INAF-IASF via Bassini 15, Milano, Italy.
The Mini-Workshop aims to provide an overview of the Mission highlights and hot topics related to the current high-energy missions from the point of view of the AGILE scientific users and collaborators.
Detailed information will follow shortly on this web site.
| | March 24, 2009 | GRB 090324: SuperAGILE Localization of a Long GRB
SuperAGILE detected a gamma ray burst on 24 March 2009, at 02:48:09 UT.
The burst position was reconstructed as:
RA(J2000) = 17h 08m 42.73s (257.178 deg)
Dec(J2000) = -48d 08' 47.59" (-48.147 deg)
with an uncertainty of 3' radius.
A description of the burst can be found in GCN #9029 (F. Lazzarotto et al.)
| | March 23, 2009 | A bright burst from AXP 1E 1547.0-5408/SGR J1550-5418
A bright burst from AXP 1E 1547.0-5408 / SGR J1550-5418 was triggered and imaged by SuperAGILE on 22 March 2009, at 22:39:16 UT.
A new GCN Circular was issued: GCN #9014 (E. Del Monte et al.)
| | March 19, 2009 | AGILE detection of a gamma-ray re-brightening of the blazar PKS 1510-089
New ATel issued ATel #1976 (S. Vercellone et al.)
| | March 13, 2009 | AGILE detection of a bright and persistent gamma-ray flare from the blazar PKS 1510-089
During the current AGILE pointing centered near the Galactic Center, the AGILE satellite has detected significant gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from the source 1AGL J1511-0809 of the First AGILE Catalogue identified with blazar PKS 1510-08, see ATel #1968 (Pucella et al.) and ATel #1957 (F. D'Ammando et al.). The analysis of the most recent AGILE-GRID data integrated from 2009-03-12 06:57 UT to 2009-03-13 05:03 UT for photon energies above 100 MeV, gives a detection significance of above 9 sigma for a source flux in excess of 400 x 10^-8 ph cm^-2 s^-1.
The figure shown above shows the gamma-ray count map of the relevant field of the current Galactic Center pointing.
| | March 10, 2009 | AGILE detection of the flaring gamma-ray blazar PKS 1510-089
New ATel issued ATel #1957 (F. D'Ammando et al.)
| | January 28, 2009 | SuperAGILE detects a flare from the binary source 3A 0114+650
New ATel issued ATel #1917 (L. Pacciani et al.)
| | January 12, 2009 | AGILE: ToO toward the Carina Field
The AGILE satellite will be pointing at the Galactic plane near the Carina Region: Ra(J2000)=10h 46m 40.5s DEC(J2000)=-59° 51' 39.5" (galactic coordinates: l=287.859 b=-0.693) for a 1-week period starting on Jan. 12, 18:00 UT, until Jan. 19, 18:00 UT.
| | December 22, 2008 | SuperAGILE source catalog and light curves now available
We are pleased to announce that the SuperAGILE source catalog and light curves are now publicy available at the ASDC Webpage: http://agile.asdc.asi.it/sagilecat_sources.html .
The page will be automatically updated twice a day.
| | December 10, 2008 | AGILE First Catalog now available and AO2 deadline postponed
We are pleased to announce that the "First Catalogue of AGILE-GRID High Confidence Gamma-Ray Sources" is now available from at the ASDC Webpage: http://www.asdc.asi.it/agilebrightcat.
Due to the unforeseen unavailability of part the AGILE scientific staff at ASDC, the preparation of the First AGILE Catalogue took longer than expected.
In order to allow AGILE AO2 guest observers to benefit of this catalog in the preparation of their proposals the previous AO2 deadline of 12 December 2008 has been postponed to 7 January 2009.
| | November 17, 2008 | AGILE detection of a possible rebrightening of the gamma-ray source AGL J2021+4032 in the Cygnus Region
New ATel issued ATel #1848M. Tavani
| | November 12, 2008 | AGILE AO2 issued
The second Announcement of Opportunity for the participation in the AGILE Guest Observers Program has been issued today.
The complete documentation for this AO2 can be found here
| | November 4, 2008 | AGILE detection of the gamma-ray source AGL J2030+4043
New ATel issued ATel #1827 (M. Tavani et al.)
| | November 3, 2008 | Key dates for the 2nd AGILE Announcement of Opportunity
The AGILE Mission Board has set the following key dates for the 2nd AGILE Announcement of Opportunity (AO2) for obtaining data rights on gamma-ray sources observed during Cycle-2:
- Release of AO2: November 12, 2008
- Due date for proposals: December 12, 2008
- AO2 Observing Period (Cycle-2): December 1, 2008 - November 30, 2009
The complete AO2 documentation will be available on-line on November 12, 2008 from the official AGILE Web site: http://agile.asdc.asi.it
| | October 15, 2008 | SuperAGILE detection of Vela X-1 in highly active hard X-ray state
A description of the current X-ray flaring activity of the source the Vela X-1 can be found in ATel #1782 (P.Soffitta et al.).
The SuperAGILE orbital light curve of the source is shown in the figure.
| | October 13, 2008 | Two important findings for the AGILE Satellite
COMUNICATO CONGIUNTO ASI-INAF-INFN (in italian)
| | October 10, 2008 | SuperAGILE detects an X-ray burst from SAX J1750.8-2900
New ATel issued ATel #1775 (L. Pacciani et al.)
| | October 1, 2008 | GRB081001: SuperAGILE Localization of a long GRB
A description of the burst can be found in GCN 8305 (F. Lazzarotto et al.)
| | September 23, 2008 | SuperAGILE detects an X-ray burst from the Millisecond Pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658
New ATel issued ATel #1732 (E. Del Monte et al.)
| | September 10, 2008 | SuperAGILE detects IGR J16318-4848 in a bright state at hard X-rays
New ATel issued ATel #1713 (L. Pacciani et al.)
| | September 8, 2008 | SGR 0501+4516: AGILE observations
New ATel issued ATel #1705 (M. Feroci et al.)
| | August 28, 2008 | GRB 080828: SuperAGILE GRB Localization
A description of the burst can be found in GCN 8151 (E. Del Monte et al.)
| | August 28, 2008 | AGILE special ToO pointing on SGR 0501+4516 scheduled for August 31, 2008
Following the recent identification by the Swift Team of the previously unknown Soft Gamma Repeater SGR 0501+4516 (see ATel #1676, S. D. Barthelmy et al.), AGILE will repoint at the source on August 31, 2008 12:00 UTC.
The AGILE ToO pointing on SGR 0501+4516 will last 10 days, and it is an anticipation of the Anti-Center pointing foreseen for September 30, 2008 according to the AGILE Baseline Pointing Plan (ABPP) - Cycle-1.
The reference AGILE Baseline Pointing Plan for Cycle-1 was published at the beginning of the Cycle-1 on December 1st, 2007 and is visible on: http://agile.asdc.asi.it/ao.html
The currently scheduled AGILE pointings are visible on: http://agile.asdc.asi.it/current_pointing.html
| | August 26, 2008 | GRB 080825B: GRB Localization by SuperAGILE
A description of the burst can be found in GCN 8133 (Y. Evangelista et al.)
| | August 4, 2008 | New ATel issued ATel #1641
ATel #1641
| | July 29, 2008 | GRB 080726: GRB Localization by SuperAGILE
A description of the burst can be found in GCN 8020 (F. Lazzarotto et al.)
The SuperAGILE light curve of the event is shown in the figure.
| | July 23, 2008 | GRB 080723B: Detection and Localization by SuperAGILE
A description of the burst can be found in GCN 8003 (E. Del Monte et al.)
The SuperAGILE light curve of the event is shown in the figure.
| | July 18, 2008 | New ATel issued #1619
ATel #1619
| | June 26, 2008 | New ATel issued #1592
ATel #1592
| | June 23, 2008 | New ATel issued #1585
ATel #1585
| | June 17, 2008 | New ATel issued #1583
ATel #1583
| | June 17, 2008 | New ATel issued #1582
ATel #1582
| | June 16, 2008 | New ATel issued #1581
ATel #1581
| | June 10, 2008 | AGILE special ToO pointing on W Comae (ON +231)
Following a TeV outburst from the BL Lac W Comae reported by the VERITAS Collaboration in ATEL #1565, AGILE repointed at the source on June 9 2008, 16:00 UTC.
The AGILE pointing coordinates at the beginning of the ToO pointing period are:
RA(J2000) = 182.3 deg = 12h 9m 8.3s
Dec(J2000) = 29.6 deg = 29° 36' 50.4"
(galactic coordinates: l = 195.5 b = 80.4)
This special pointing will last until June 15, 2008 12:00 UTC.
Multifrequency observations are strongly encouraged.
| | May 27, 2008 | New ATel issued #1545
ATel #1545
| | May 27, 2008 | New ATel issued #1547
ATel #1547
| | May 15, 2008 | GRB 080514B: SuperAGILE/IPN GRB Localization and possible AGILE detection at E>50 MeV
SuperAGILE and AGILE/MCAL detected a gamma ray burst on May 14th, at 09:55:56 UT. The event was localized by SuperAGILE at approximately 38 degrees off axis, in the one-dimensional portion of its field of view. The event was also detected by the burst detector onboard Mars-Odyssey, thus the IPN was able to reduce the SuperAGILE error box to the 100 sq arcmin error box, whose centroid is at (RA, Dec)= (322.820, 0.737).
The error box corners are given by the following coordinates (RA, Dec):
322.962 (21h 31m 50.81s) 0.733 (0d 43m 59.69s)
322.774 (21h 31m 5.74s) 0.667 (0d 40m 2.78s)
322.867 (21h 31m 27.99s) 0.806 (0d 48m 21.16s)
322.678 (21h 30m 42.80s) 0.740 (0d 44m 23.63s)
A description of the burst can be found in GCN 7715 (M. Rapisarda et al.)
As reported in GCN 7716 (A. Giuliani et al.) a quick look analysis of the AGILE GRID data of GRB 080514B shows a possible detection at energies E>50 MeV at a position consistent with the SuperAGILE-IPN localization .
| | May 9, 2008 | GRB 080507: GRB localization by SuperAGILE
SuperAGILE detected and localized a gamma ray burst on May 7th, at 07:45:00 UT.
The burst position was reconstructed as (RA, Dec) (233.721 deg, 56.424 deg), which is:
RA(J2000) = 15h 34m 53.11s
Dec(J2000) = 56d 25' 27.3"
with an uncertainty of 3' radius. The given uncertainty accounts for both the statistical and systematic errors.
A description of the burst can be found in GCN 7697 (I. Lapshov et al.)
The event was detected during the passage of the AGILE spacecraft through the South Atlantic Anomaly.
The telemetry of the AGILE Gamma Ray Imager (GRID) is disabled during the passage through the South Atlantic Anomaly, thus no GRID data are available for this GRB.
| | April 29, 2008 | Swift detection of the brightest X-ray flare from S50716+714
On 28 April 2008 Swift detected the blazar S50716+714 at X-ray and UV flux levels significantly larger than ever observed before. An analysis of the XRT data gives a 0.3-10 keV X-ray flux of 4e-11 erg/cm2/s, about 50% larger than that observed at the peak of the giant X-ray flare of October-November 2007.
Swift will continue the monitoring of S50716+714 over the next few days, while the AGILE Gamma-ray observatory will include this source within its field of view between April 30 and May 10, 2008. Multi-frequency observations are strongly encouraged (ATel.#1495, Giommi et al.)
| | April 29, 2008 | AGILE gamma-ray detection of a variable source in the Cygnus region
The AGILE satellite, from data obtained between 2008-04-27 01:39 UT and 2008-04-28 01:27 UT, detected significant and variable gamma-ray emission from a source positionally consistent with 3EG J2020+4017, see ATel #1492 (F. Longo et al.).
Multiwavelength observations of the source location are strongly encouraged.
| | April 22, 2008 | 5th Science AGILE Workshop
We are pleased to announce the 5th Science AGILE Workshop "AGILE first year of gamma-ray astrophysics" to be held on June 12-13, 2008 at ASI-ASDC c/o ESA/ESRIN, Frascati .
Detailed information will follow shortly on this web site.
| | April 10, 2008 | GRB 080408: GRB Localization by SuperAGILE
SuperAGILE detected and localized a gamma ray burst on April 8th, at 18:12:48 UT. The event was approximately 13 degrees off-axis.
The burst position was reconstructed as (RA, Dec) (114.678 deg, 33.305 deg), which is:
RA(J2000) = 114.678 deg = 07h 38m 42.68s
Dec(J2000) = 33.305 deg = 33d 18' 16.7"
with an uncertainty of 3' radius. The given uncertainty accounts for both the statistical and systematic errors.
A description of the burst can be found in GCN 7571 (P. Soffitta et al.)
A preliminary analysis of the AGILE GRID data (E>100 MeV) does not show any significant gamma ray emission at the time and coordinates of the burst GRB 080408 localized by SuperAGILE, see GCN 7572 (S. Mereghetti et al.)
Swift performed a Target of Opportunity Observation of the SuperAGILE GRB 080408, starting ~25 ks after the trigger.
The results of XRT and UVOT data analysis in this field have been reported in GCN 7576, GCN 7577.
A GROND (La Silla Observatory, Chile) detection of optical/NIR afterglow candidate is reported in GCN 7581.
| | March 27, 2008 | SuperAGILE detects an X-ray burst from a position consistent with IGR J17473-2721
The burst was detected on 26 March 2008, 23:19:40 UT, lasted approximately 40 s and it was significantly detected only in the energy range 17-25 keV, see ATel #1445 (E. Del Monte et al.).
Considering the intensity, the temporal and spectral properties of the event as well as the spatial coincidence with the source IGR J17473-2721 near the Galactic Center, we propose that the burst observed by SuperAGILE was indeed a Type I X-ray burst, and suggest that IGR J17473-2721 is an X-ray burster.
The SuperAGILE X-ray burst image and light curve are visible here .
| | March 26, 2008 | GRB 080319C: AGILE-MCAL observation of the prompt emission
On March 19 2008 the Swift localized GRB 080319C triggered the Mini-Calorimeter (MCAL) instrument onboard the AGILE satellite at 12:25:56 UT (=T0), see GCN #7457 (M. Marisaldi et al.).
| | March 26, 2008 | AGILE detection of a gamma-ray source coincident with Blazar PKS 1510-08
The AGILE satellite detected on March 20 2008 significant gamma-ray emission from a source positionally consistent with the blazar PKS 1510-08, see ATel #1436 (F. D'Ammando et al.).
Multiwavelength observations of the source location are strongly encouraged.
| | February 29, 2008 | AGILE AO-1 News
The official list of all AGILE AO-1 approved targets is now available here
| | February 25, 2008 | AGILE gamma-ray detection of a variable source in the Musca region
AGILE detected during the period between 2008-02-21 06:00 UT and 2008-02-22 07:30 UT a gamma-ray flaring source near the Galactic plane in the Musca region, see ATel #1394 (C. Pittori et al.).
The source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 312.2 deg, b = -0.3 deg, and has a radius of about 0.5 degrees.
Multiwavelength observations of the source location are strongly encouraged.
| | February 12, 2008 | AGILE AO-1 News
The AGILE Data Center (ADC) at ASDC is currently finalizing the schedule for AGILE AO-1 software, calibration and data release for Guest Observers.
PI of accepted proposals will receive further information in the next days.
| | February 12, 2008 | AGILE TOO on Mkn 421
Following a TeV alert for the blazar Mkn 421,AGILE repointed at the source on February 9, 2008 09:00 UTC.
This special TOO pointing lasted until today, February 12, 2008 12:00 UTC when AGILE returned to look at the South Galactic Pole region, according to the Cycle 1 Baseline Pointing Plan.
| | January 4, 2008 | AGILE back in standard observing mode
From Dec. 31st, 2007 to Jan. 4th, 2008 the AGILE Payload has not been in observing mode due to technical problems.
From 13:30 UT of Jan. 4th, 2008 the AGILE detectors returned to the standard operating mode.
| | December 1, 2007 | AGILE AO1 data taking period started
The AO1 data taking period started today, as planned.
The official list of approved AO1 sources will be released within a few days.
| | November 28, 2007 | AGILE gamma-ray detection of a strongly variable source in the Cygnus region
AGILE detected on Nov. 24, 2007 a strong gamma-ray flaring source near the Galactic plane in the Cygnus region, see ATel #1308 (A. Chen et al.)
The variable source positional error box is centered at Galactic coordinates l = 75.0 deg, b = -0.4 deg, and has a radius of about 1 degree.
Multiwavelength observations of the source location are strongly encouraged.
| | November 15, 2007 | AGILE detection of a gamma-ray source coincident with Blazar 3C 454.3
The AGILE satellite, currently in its science performance verification phase, during the Observing Block that started on 2007-11-02 12:00 UT, detected significant gamma-ray emission from a source more than 40 degrees off-axis, coincident with the blazar 3C 454.3.
See ATel #1278 (A. Chen et al.) for details.
The AGILE pointing of the Galactic plane region that includes this gamma-ray source will continue until 2007-12-01 12:00 UT.
| | November 6, 2007 | GRB 071104: Gamma Ray Burst Localization by SuperAGILE
SuperAGILE detected and localized a gamma ray burst on November 4th, at 11:41:09 UT (*).
The event was approximately 22 degrees off-axis.
The burst position was reconstructed as:
RA(J2000) = 295.600 deg = 19h 42m 23.9s
Dec(J2000) = 14.645 deg = +14d 38' 42"
with an uncertainty of 8' radius. The given uncertainty accounts for both the statistical and systematic errors.
An analysis of the AGILE Gamma Ray Imager (GRID) data is in progress.
The Minicalorimeter also detected the event up to the energy range 0.7-1.4 MeV.
A description of the burst be found in GCN 7042 (Donnarumma et al.)
Swift started observing the field of view of the SuperAGILE burst GRB 071104 about 20.6 ks after the AGILE trigger.
The results of XRT and UVOT data analysis in this field have been reported in GCN 7043, GCN 7045 and GCN 7044
(*) this value of the trigger time corrects the trigger time given in the GCN 7042, affected by a typo.
| | October 29, 2007 | AGILE pointing on blazar 0716+714 extended
The AGILE special pointing on the optically active blazar 0716+714 will be extended until November 1, 2007.
Multifrequency observations are strongly encouraged.
| | October 26, 2007 | AGILE special pointing on blazar 0716+714
Following an intense optical flare of the blazar 0716+714, AGILE repointed at the source on October 24, 2007 08:00 UTC.
This special pointing will last until October 29, 2007 12:00 UTC. Multifrequency observations are strongly encouraged.
| | October 1, 2007 | AGILE AO1 issued
The first Announcement of Opportunity for the participation in the AGILE Guest Observers Program has been issued today.
The complete documentation for this AO can be found '' here
| | September 24, 2007 | AGILE detection of a gamma-ray source possibly associated with Blazar TXS 0716+714 / S5 0716+71
The AGILE satellite, currently in its science performance verification phase, during the Observing Block that started on 2007-09-04 12:00 UT, detected significant gamma-ray emission from a source possibly associated with blazar TXS 0716+714 (other name S5 0716+714). See ATel #1221 (A. Giuliani et al.) for details.
Today, September 24, 2007 the GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) reports on the observation of an optical flare of this blazar in the same period, see ATel #1223 (D. Carosati et al.).
| | September 14, 2007 | AGILE AO-1 postponed
The dates of the AGILE AO-1 have been postponed by two weeks.
This decision had to be taken in order a) to allow the completion of the AGILE calibration/performance verification phase and b) to complete the definition of the pointing plan for the first year of operations.
The new dates of AO1 are :
● beginning of the proposal submission period 1 October 2007
● deadline for proposals submission 31 October 2007
| | September 3, 2007 | AGILE detection of a gamma-ray source off the Galactic Plane
The AGILE satellite, currently in its science performance verification phase, during an observation centered near the Galactic plane (l=334.44, b=10.06) that started on 2007-08-27 12:00 UT, detected significant gamma-ray emission from a source at approximately 33 degrees off the AGILE pointing direction, see ATel #1199 (Bulgarelli et. al).
| | August 31, 2007 | SuperAGILE detection of GRB070824
On August 24th 2007, at 20:50:09 UT the SuperAGILE GRB-search ground software was triggered by GRB070824. The GRB was seen as a 3 second event, preceded by a weaker 2 s precursor 5 s earlier, leading to an overall burst duration of about ~10 s (T90=9.5 s), see light curve below (courtesy of I. Donnarumma, E. Del Monte, F. Lazzarotto, M. Feroci of AGILE Team).
The GRB was observed by SuperAGILE at 48.1 deg off-axis, a region of the instrument field of view with only one-dimensional imaging.
In addition, its arrival direction was partially obscured by the Earth's atmosphere. For these reasons, the SuperAGILE-only error box is a long, narrow strip limited by the instrument field of view and Earth occultation in one direction and by the imaging uncertainty in the other.
This event was independently detected by other IPN experiments, namely Konus-Wind, Swift/BAT, RHESSI,AGILE/Minicalorimeter, and the AGILE/Anticoincidence, as well as by Konus-A (Cosmos-2421). Their detection combined to provide further constraints to the burst localization to a triangular region, as shown in the figure below (courtesy of Valentin Pal'shin, Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute).
A detailed description of the burst and the localization area can be found in GCN 6767 (I. Donnarumma et al.)
| | August 7, 2007 | AGILE detection of the blazar 3c454.3 in a high state
The AGILE satellite, currently in the science performance verification phase, has observed the 3C 454.3 field starting on 2007-07-24 14:30 UT, and ending on 2007-07-30 11:40 UT following the significant flaring activity of this blazar recently detected in the optical and X-ray energy bands.
Considering that the AGILE in-flight calibration is still ongoing, a gamma-ray source positionally consistent with 3C 454.3 was detected by the AGILE GRID (Gamma-Ray Imaging Detector), see ATel #1160 (S. Vercellone et al.) and ATel #1167 (A. Bulgarelli et al.).
The images below show the AGILE detection of the source in the gamma-ray energy band E > 100 MeV. The left picture is a detector image with superimposed a grid of Galactic coordinates in ARC projection. The right picture shows the same gamma-ray image distorted to match the Hammer-Aitoff projection in Galactic coordinates.
| | July 26, 2007 | First Gamma-Ray Burst detected by SuperAGILE
On July 24 approximately at 23:25:09 UT SuperAGILE detected and imaged GRB 070724b. The experiment is not yet in its optimal configuration and in particular, the onboard triggering and imaging is not active yet and the absolute position reconstruction is being calibrated by using celestial X-ray sources.
Ground analysis results showed that the event was observed at 21 degrees off-axis and the observed duration in the 20-60 keV energy range is about 55 seconds, with a multi-peak time structure (see figures).
The burst position was reconstructed as (RA, Dec) (17.629 deg,57.673 deg), which is:
RA(J2000) = 01h 10m 31.0s
Dec(J2000) = +57d 40' 23"
with an uncertainty of 20' radius. The given uncertainty is almost entirely systematic and it is due to the very preliminary absolute position calibration, carried out only on 3 X-ray sources. At this preliminary stage the absolute positioning was obtained by the ground calibrations, preliminarily checked with these sources. The error box may be improved over the next hours/days.
An analysis of the AGILE Gamma Ray Imager (GRID) data is in progress. A quick look analysis does not show any bright gamma-ray transient in coincidence with the X-ray emission of GRB 070724b.
These results have been published in GCN 6668 (Feroci et al.) http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn3/6668.gcn3
Following the SuperAGILE trigger the field of GRB070724b was observed by SWIFT leading to the observation of 2 probable X-ray afterglow candidates (Romano et al., GCN 6669).
| | July 26, 2007 | AGILE Observations of 3C454.3
On July 24, 2007 AGILE Observations of 3C454.3 the AGILE satellite carried out a re-pointing of the 3C454.3 field starting on July 24, 2007, 4:30pm, following the significant flaring activity of this blazar that was recently detected in the optical and X-ray energy bands. The pointing centroid coordinates of the co-aligned AGILE gamma-ray and X-ray imagers are:
R.A. (J2000) = 17.829
DEC. (J2000) = 36.694
(l= 127.364, b = -26.007).
The 3C 454.3 source turns out to be positioned about 36 degrees off-axis with respect to the AGILE pointing centroid. The AGILE gamma-ray imager detection capability at that off-axis position is nominal.
AGILE will point at the 3C 454.3 field for the time period:
start: July 24, 2007, 4.30 pm
end: July 30, 2007, 12:00am.
Multifrequency observations of the source are encouraged. Please contact
Stefano Vercellone of the AGILE Team (stefano@iasf-milano.inaf.it,
mobile phone: +39 347 3089 465).
| | July 23, 2007 | AGILE AO1
Preliminary documentation for the Announcement of Opportunity for Cycle 1 of the AGILE Guest Observer Program is now available at http://agile.asdc.asi.it/ao.html.
Proposals are due from September 15, 2007 up to October 15, 2007 at 18:00 UT.
| | July 10, 2007 | AGILE - GLAST Workshop
On July the 2nd and 3rd it has been hold at ASDC site the italian Workshop dedicated to gamma-ray astrophysics from space, focused on AGILE and GLAST missions.
The conference was attended by 140 people from the astrophysics and particle physics communities, industrial entities and the President of ASI, INFN and INAF.
During the Workshop the First AO for AGILE Mission was prsented. Some first very promising results were presented, some of which have been announched in other News.
Results from the GLAST on-ground calibration have been presented as well as the Science Working Group activity in preparation to the launch, now foreseen in January 2008.
Part of the Workshop was dedicated to the sinergies with other observatories and telescopes, such as INTEGRAL, Swift, MAGIC etc.
| | July 6, 2007 | AGILE: SuperAGILE first light
As announced previously, the hard X-ray imager SuperAGILE clearly detected a flare from the source GX301-2 as its first light. These images (courtesy of E. Del Monte, I. Donnarumma, Y. Evangelista, F. Lazzarotto, L. Pacciani of Agile Team) are the results of an immediate raw and very preliminary deconvolution of two detectors. Analysis of the data with the scientific software is in progress. Preliminary results show a declining of the source flux over the subsequent orbits.
| | July 4, 2007 | AGILE: 1,000 orbits and approaching the end of the Commissioning phase
AGILE has completed yesterday its 1,000th orbit and has almost come to the completion of the initial start-up/Commissioning phase.
On July 2nd, at the ASDC/ESRIN Workshop on Gamma-ray Astrophysics in Italy, several AGILE preliminary results have been presented. In particular:
- The hard X-ray imager SuperAGILE clearly detected a flare of the source GX301-2 as its first light.
- A gamma-ray burst was detected by all active detectors on June 22. The burst position turned out to be about 80 degrees off-axis.
- The AGILE calorimeter has clearly detected emission in the 600 keV - 2 MeV energy range.
| | June 19, 2007 | AGILE Commissioning News
In this phase the SuperAGILE instrument is undergoing its configuration setting, which we plan to complete at the end of june.
| | June 1, 2007 | AGILE first detection of a cosmic source: the Vela Pulsar
The picture shows a preliminary count map (Galactic coordinates) of photons with energy above 100 MeV of the Vela Pulsar region. The observation duration is approximately half a day (7 orbits) between May 29 and 30, 2007.
This image represents only the central part of the AGILE gamma-ray imager field of view and was built from data with a preliminary background rejection taken with an instrument configuration that is not yet optimized.
The AGILE Commissioning phase will continue until the end of June. This phase is aimed at a fully operational setting of both the gamma/ray and X-ray detectors.
| | May 17, 2007 | AGILE Commissioning news.
The AGILE Payload is now operated routinely and the thermal stabilization of the spacecraft is in progress.
All Payload subsystems are in nominal conditions with satisfactory temperatures.
The first scientific/calibration observations in nominal conditions are planned for the beginning of june with a pointing of the Vela region.
| | May 9, 2007 | First AGILE cosmic photon.
Yesterday AGILE detected its first cosmic photon during a test calibration of the Gamma-Ray Imager (Silicon Tracker).
The figure below is a view of the track left by the electron-positron pair produced by the incoming photon and recorded in the twelve silicon layers of the detector.
| | May 8, 2007 | AGILE's 200th pass: all Payload subsystems in nominal conditions.
Yesterday, the Payload Anticoincidence System (AC) has been successfully switched on and tested for the entire
orbit, including the South Atlantic Anomaly. All test results are nominal and the real-time analysis indicates that the total count rate is as expected.
The AC was the last major Payload subsystem awaiting testing after the mini-Calorimeter, the Silicon Tracker and SuperAGILE, which were switched on and tested last week.
The Commissioning activities will continue with the Payload thermal stabilization phase, followed by the Scientific Commissioning phase.
| | May 3, 2007 | AGILE Payload switched on!
Yesterday, Wed May 2, 2007, the AGILE mini-Calorimeter was switched on, today the Silicon Tracker (gamma-ray detector) and the SuperAGILE (hard X-ray) detector have also been switched on.
All systems are nominal and the real-time analysis indicates that the AGILE Payload is in very healthy conditions.
The Payload Commissioning will continue now with 11 orbits devoted to SuperAGILE and to the Anticoincidence System that will be switched on next week.
| | May 2, 2007 | AGILE satellite 100th pass
On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:03 UTC the AGILE satellite has successfully completed its 100th pass. All test results are nominal. The satellite is currently in FINE SUN POINTING attitude, as scheduled by the Commissioning Plan.
The Payload Commissioning Phase will begin on Wed, 2 May 2007 to verify the physical and functional integrity of the scientific instruments.
| | April 27, 2007 | AGILE satellite status
On Apr. 23rd the AGILE satellite was injected in the nominal equatorial orbit in agreement with the Scientific Requirements of the Mission.
The satellite is now in the initial Commissioning Phase.
All test results are nominal.
The satellite is being tracked at each orbit by the ASI Malindi ground station in Kenya.
The AGILE data flow Malindi-Fucino-ASDC is nominal since its first pass on Apr. 23rd
| | April 23, 2007 | AGILE succesfully launched!
AGILE was succesfully launched at 10:00 GMT by the Indian PSLV rocket from
the Shriarikota ISRO base (Chennai-Madras), India.
The first acquisition from the Malindi ground station occurred at 11:30 GMT.
The orbital parameters are very close to the predicted values (altitude 550 km, inclination of 2-3 degrees) and
the satellite status is nominal.
| | April 16, 2007 | AGILE satellite status
The AGILE satellite has been successfully integrated with the PSLV launcher at the ISRO - Sriharikota launch base (Chennai-Madras) India.
The final functional tests after integration have been completed on Sunday, April 15th, 2007, at 17:00 (Indian Time).
The AGILE satellite is now ready for flight.
The AGILE launch is currently scheduled for April 23rd, 2007 GMT Time 10:00, Indian Time 15:30, Italian time 12:00.
| | March 27, 2007 | AGILE satellite status
On March 25th AGILE as been shipped to India (SHAR) for the launch
campaign.
Launch is currently scheduled for 23 April 2007.
The following link provides more information from the Indian viewpoint
at the Launch Pad.
www.space-travel.com/reports/ISRO_To_Launch_Foreign_Satellite_As_Primary_Payload_First_Time_999.html
| | March 21, 2007 | AGILE satellite status
The AGILE System Validation Tests 4 (SVT4) at the IABG facility (Munich) have been successfully concluded.
AGILE is scheduled to be shipped to India (SHAR) for launch on march 25.
| | March 5, 2007 | Latest AGILE news
AGILE satellite status
The AGILE System Validation Test 4 (SVT4) currently under way at IABG facility (Munich) will be completed on March 13.
AGILE will then be packed and shipped to India (SHAR) for launch.
| | January 26, 2007 | AGILE satellite status
The AGILE satellite has been shipped at the IABG facility (Munich) for the final delta qualification tests before launch.
| | January 26, 2007 | India Test Technology For Space Vehicles
All Four Satellites in Healthy Condition After PSLV-C7 Launch PSLV-C8 will take the Italian satellite, Agile, to outer space by the end of march 2007.
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