GCN Circular 45130
Subject
GRB 260708A: Glowbug gamma-ray detection
Event
Date
2026-07-10T11:25:29Z (3 months ago)
From
C.C. Cheung at Naval Research Lab <Teddy.Cheung@nrl.navy.mil>
Via
Web form
C.C. Cheung, R. Woolf, 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 260708A, which was also detected by Fermi/GBM (GCN 45115, 45124), Fermi/LAT (GCN 45117), and GECAM-B (GCN 45126), and has a proposed optical counterpart (GCN 45123, 45127).
Using an adaptive window with a resolution of 32-ms, the burst onset is determined to be 2026-07-08 10:11:15.952 with a duration of 12.3 s and a total significance of about 7.7 sigma. The emission seen by Glowbug corresponds to the brightest portion of the GBM and GECAM-B light curves.
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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