GCN Circular 44586
Subject
GRB 260511A: Glowbug gamma-ray detection
Event
Date
2026-05-12T17:03:10Z (5 days ago)
From
Richard S. Woolf at US Naval Research Laboratory <richard.s.woolf.civ@us.navy.mil>
Via
Web form
R. Woolf, C.C. Cheung, M. Kerr, J.E. Grove (NRL), A. Goldstein (USRA), C.A. Wilson-Hodge, D. Kocevski (MSFC), and M.S. Briggs (UAH) report:
The Glowbug gamma-ray telescope [1,2,3], operating on the International Space Station, reports the detection of GRB 260511A, which was also detected by Fermi GBM (GCN 44529), SVOM (GCN 44532), NuSTAR (GCN 44555), and Konus–Wind (GCN 44585).
Using an adaptive window with a resolution of 32-ms, the burst onset is determined to be 2026-05-11 06:13:28.904 with a duration of 11.3 s and a total significance of about 41.6 sigma. The light curve comprises three primary peaks from T0 to ~T0+11s.
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 and operated until 2024 April when it was put in safe storage on orbit. Glowbug was removed from storage and resumed operation on 2025 September 12.
[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] Woolf, R.S. et al. 2024, Proc. SPIE, 13151, id. 1315108
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