The INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory

INTEGRAL (http://www.rssd.esa.int/Integral/), launched in October 2002 aboard a Russian Proton rocket,  is providing a new insight into the most violent and exotic objects of the Universe,  such as neutron stars, active galactic nuclei and supernovae. INTEGRAL is also helping us to understand processes such as the formation of new chemical elements and the mysterious gamma-ray bursts, the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. Environments of extreme temperature and density, near the event-horizons of black holes, are a major topic of study with INTEGRAL.

These studies are possible thanks to INTEGRAL's combination of fine spectroscopy and imaging of gamma-ray emissions in the energy range of 15 keV to 10 MeV and concurrent monitoring in X-ray (4-35 keV) using JEM-X, and optical (500-600 nm) bands, using OMC.

A project of the European Space Agency (http://www.esa.int/export/esaCP/index.html), INTEGRAL (http://astro.estec.esa.nl/SA-general/Projects/Integral/integral.html) serves an international Guest Observer community. Participation by U.S. astronomers is supported by a Guest Observer Facility (GOF) at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC).

For more information visit the INTEGRAL Guest Observal Facility (http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/integral/integralgof.html).