GCN Circular 34847
Subject
GRB 231018A: Glowbug gamma-ray detection
Date
2023-10-19T21:07:59Z (6 months ago)
From
C.C. Cheung at Naval Research Lab <Teddy.Cheung@nrl.navy.mil>
Via
Web form
C.C. Cheung, M. Kerr, J. E. Grove, R. Woolf (NRL), A. Goldstein (USRA), C.A. Wilson-Hodge (MSFC), and M.S. Briggs (UAH) report:
The Glowbug gamma-ray telescope [1,2], operating on the International Space Station, reports the detection of GRB 231018A, which was also detected by Fermi/GBM, Konus-Wind, CALET, GECAM-B, INTEGRAL/SPI-ACS, and Swift/BAT, resulting in an IPN localization (GCN 34826, 34845, 34846).
Using an adaptive window with a resolution of 32-ms, the burst onset is determined to be 2023-10-18 12:30:07.824 with a duration of 87.6 s and a total significance of about 159 sigma. The Glowbug light curve comprises multiple peaks and is generally similar to the Konus-Wind light curve (GCN 34846).
Using a standard power-law function with an exponential high-energy cutoff [3] to model the emission over this duration results in a photon index dN/dE~E^x of x=1.0 and a cutoff energy ("Epeak") of 193 keV. The modeled 10-10000 keV fluence is 3.4e-05 erg/cm^2.
The analysis results presented here are preliminary and use a response function that lacks a detailed characterization of the surrounding passive structure of the ISS.
Glowbug is a NASA-funded technology demonstrator for sensitive, low-cost gamma-ray transient telescopes developed, built, and operated by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) with support from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, USRA, and NASA MSFC. It was launched on 2023 March 15 aboard the Department of Defense Space Test Program’s STP-H9 to the ISS. The detector comprises 12 large-area (15 cm x 15 cm) CsI:Tl panels covering the surface of a half cube, and two hexagonal (5-cm diameter, 10-cm length) CLLB scintillators, giving it a large field of view (instantaneous FoV ~2/3 sky) over a wide energy band of 50 keV to >2 MeV.
[1] Grove, J.E. et al. 2020, Proc. Yamada Conf. LXXI, arXiv:2009.11959
[2] Woolf, R.S. et al. 2022, Proc. SPIE, 12181, id. 121811O
[3] Goldstein, A. et al. 2020, ApJ 895, 40, arXiv :1909.03006
Distribution Statement A: Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.