GLAST Status and Application to Microquasars

Abstract

The Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is a next generation high energy gamma-ray observatory due for launch in Fall 2007. The primary instrument is the Large Area Telescope (LAT), which will measure gamma-ray flux and spectra from 20 MeV to > 300 GeV and is a successor to the highly successful EGRET experiment on CGRO. The LAT will have better angular resolution, greater effective area, wider field of view and broader energy coverage than any previous experiment in this energy range. An overview of the LAT instrument design and construction is presented which includes performance estimates with particular emphasis on how these apply to strudies of microquasars. The nature and quality of the data that will be provided by the LAT is described with results from recent detailed simulations that illustrate the potential of the LAT to observe gamma ray variability and spectra.