BurstCube: status and public alerts

Authors

Israel Martinez-Castellanos, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Isabella Brewer, University of Delaware
Michael S. Briggs, The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Alessandro Bruno, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Eric Burns, University of Louisiana System
Regina Caputo, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Brad Cenko, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Georgia de Nolfo, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Adam Goldstein, Universities Space Research Association
Sean Griffin, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sylvain Guiriec, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Lorraine Hanlon, University College Dublin
Dieter H. Hartmann, Clemson University
Boyan Hristov, The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Michelle Hui, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Alyson Joens, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Carolyn Kierans, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Marc Kippen, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Dan Kocevski, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
John Krizmanic, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Sibasish Laha, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Amy Lien, The University of Tampa
Sheila McBreen, University College Dublin
Julie E. McEnery, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
J. Grant Mitchell, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Lee Mitchell, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
David Morris, University of the Virgin Islands
David Murphy, University College Dublin
Pi Nuessle, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Jeremy S. Perkins, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Judith L. Racusin, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Oliver Roberts, Universities Space Research Association
Peter Shawhan, University of Maryland, College Park

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

3-18-2022

Abstract

BurstCube is a CubeSat Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) detector expected to launch in 2022, significantly expanding sky coverage in the 50 keV to 1 MeV energy range and increasing the probability of detecting a gravitational wave counterpart. BurstCube will take advantage of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system in order to provide rapid public alerts and localization information, which has proven to be key to obtain valuable multi-messenger and multi-wavelength information. The BurstCube instrument is comprised of four Cesium Iodide scintillators coupled to arrays of Silicon Photomultipliers, therefore serving as a pathfinder for future missions utilizing this technology for space-based gamma-ray detection. In this presentation we will discuss the current status of the BurstCube instrument assembly, calibration and analysis pipelines. We will also describe the real-time alerts that will be sent out to the community throughout the duration of the mission.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Proceedings of Science

Recommended Citation

Martinez-Castellanos, I., Brewer, I., Briggs, M., Bruno, A., Burns, E., Caputo, R., Cenko, B., de Nolfo, G., Goldstein, A., Griffin, S., Guiriec, S., Hanlon, L., Hartmann, D., Hristov, B., Hui, M., Joens, A., Kierans, C., Kippen, M., Kocevski, D., Krizmanic, J., Laha, S., Lien, A., McBreen, S., McEnery, J., Mitchell, J., Mitchell, L., Morris, D., Murphy, D., Nuessle, P., Perkins, J., Racusin, J., Roberts, O., & Shawhan, P. (2022). BurstCube: status and public alerts. Proceedings of Science, 395 Retrieved from https://repository.lsu.edu/physics_astronomy_pubs/6667