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G. Weidenspointner (USRA/GSFC), B. J. Teegarden (NASA/GSFC), M. J. Harris, S. J. Sturner (USRA/GSFC), A. J. Dean, C. Ferguson, N. Diallo (University of Southampton)
High instrumental backgrounds are a notorious problem in low-energy gamma ray astronomy. We have combined the MGEANT and GGOD Monte Carlo codes in an attempt to model the high resolution, long-term gamma ray data recorded by the Transient Gamma Ray Spectrometer (TGRS) on board WIND. The TGRS is a Ge spectrometer operating in the 50 keV to 8 MeV range. Its data reveal the complex instrumental background in formidable detail, particularly the many gamma ray lines from radioactive isotopes produced in the detector and spacecraft materials by cosmic ray interactions. We report the successes (and failures) of the MGEANT/GGOD codes in reproducing this "dark side" of TGRS.