Early results from GRBAlpha and VZLUSAT-2

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14310%2F22%3A00127112" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14310/22:00127112 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

<a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2207.03272.pdf" target="_blank" >https://arxiv.org/pdf/2207.03272.pdf</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.2629332" target="_blank" >10.1117/12.2629332</a>

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

Early results from GRBAlpha and VZLUSAT-2

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

We present the detector performance and early science results from GRBAlpha, a 1U CubeSat mission, which is a technological pathfinder to a future constellation of nanosatellites monitoring gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). GRBAlpha was launched in March 2021 and operates on a 550 km altitude sun-synchronous orbit. The gamma-ray burst detector onboard GRBAlpha consists of a 75×75×5 mm CsI(Tl) scintillator, read out by a dual-channel multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) setup. It is sensitive in the ∼30−900 keV range. The main goal of GRBAlpha is the in-orbit demonstration of the detector concept, verification of the detector’s lifetime, and measurement of the background level on low-Earth orbit, including regions inside the outer Van Allen radiation belt and in the South Atlantic anomaly. GRBAlpha has already detected five, both long and short, GRBs and two bursts were detected within a time-span of only 8 hours, proving that nanosatellites can be used for routine detection of gamma-ray transients. For one GRB, we were able to obtain a high resolution spectrum and compare it with measurements from the Swift satellite. We find that, due to the variable background, the time fraction of about 67% of the low-Earth polar orbit is suitable for gamma-ray burst detection. One year after launch, the detector performance is good and the degradation of the MPPC photon counters remains at an acceptable level. The same detector system, but double in size, was launched in January 2022 on VZLUSAT-2 (3U CubeSat). It performs well and already detected three GRBs and two solar flares. Here, we present early results from this mission as well.

Název v anglickém jazyce

Early results from GRBAlpha and VZLUSAT-2

Popis výsledku anglicky

We present the detector performance and early science results from GRBAlpha, a 1U CubeSat mission, which is a technological pathfinder to a future constellation of nanosatellites monitoring gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). GRBAlpha was launched in March 2021 and operates on a 550 km altitude sun-synchronous orbit. The gamma-ray burst detector onboard GRBAlpha consists of a 75×75×5 mm CsI(Tl) scintillator, read out by a dual-channel multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) setup. It is sensitive in the ∼30−900 keV range. The main goal of GRBAlpha is the in-orbit demonstration of the detector concept, verification of the detector’s lifetime, and measurement of the background level on low-Earth orbit, including regions inside the outer Van Allen radiation belt and in the South Atlantic anomaly. GRBAlpha has already detected five, both long and short, GRBs and two bursts were detected within a time-span of only 8 hours, proving that nanosatellites can be used for routine detection of gamma-ray transients. For one GRB, we were able to obtain a high resolution spectrum and compare it with measurements from the Swift satellite. We find that, due to the variable background, the time fraction of about 67% of the low-Earth polar orbit is suitable for gamma-ray burst detection. One year after launch, the detector performance is good and the degradation of the MPPC photon counters remains at an acceptable level. The same detector system, but double in size, was launched in January 2022 on VZLUSAT-2 (3U CubeSat). It performs well and already detected three GRBs and two solar flares. Here, we present early results from this mission as well.

Druh

D - Stať ve sborníku

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

10308 - Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Rok uplatnění

2022

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název statě ve sborníku

Proceedings of SPIE, Volume 12181: Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2022: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

ISBN

9781510653436

ISSN

0277-786X

e-ISSN

1996-756X

Počet stran výsledku

11

Strana od-do

1-11

Název nakladatele

SPIE

Místo vydání

Washington

Místo konání akce

Montréal

Datum konání akce

17. 7. 2022

Typ akce podle státní příslušnosti

WRD - Celosvětová akce

Kód UT WoS článku

000865607100031