GCN Circular 8928
Subject
Konus-RF catches first GRB and SGR bursts
Date
2009-03-04T15:01:46Z (15 years ago)
From
Valentin Pal'shin at Ioffe Inst <val@mail.ioffe.ru>
S. Golenetskii, R.Aptekar, E. Mazets, V. Pal'shin, D. Frederiks, V.
Il'inskii, P. Oleynik, M. Ulanov, D. Svinkin, on behalf of the Konus-RF
and Konus-Wind teams, report:
At 07:25:57 UT on February 27, 2009 the KONUS-RF gamma-ray spectrometer
detected its first gamma-ray burst, GRB 090227A (Fermi/GBM trigger
257412359 / 090227310: Bissaldi GCN 8917).
That day at 13:43:36 UT the instrument detected a bright short soft
burst from the AXP/SGR 1E1547.0-5408.
Both bursts also triggered Konus-Wind.
The Konus-RF gamma-ray spectrometer is an instrument of the
CORONAS-PHOTON solar space observatory that was launched on January 30,
2009 into a low-Earth low-eccentricity, high-inclination orbit (altitude
547-592 km, inclination 82.5 deg). CORONAS-PHOTON is a 3-axis
stabilized, Sun-pointing spacecraft. Konus-RF has been successfully
operating since February 19.
The Konus-RF experiment is aimed at studying of temporal and spectral
characteristics of solar flares, gamma-ray bursts, and SGR bursts in a
wide energy range from 10 keV to 10 MeV. It consists of two identical
omnidirectional detectors one of which points toward the Sun thereby
observing the solar hemisphere, and the other observes the antisolar
hemisphere. Thus, the instrument provides continuous monitoring of the
unocculted sky. However, the usable exposure time is severely limited by
passage through the radiation belts at high latitudes and the South
Atlantic Anomaly. Each detector employs NaI(Tl) crystal, 127 mm in
diameter and 76.2 mm in height, supplied with a beryllium entrance
window. The Konus-RF instrument is an advanced modification of the
Russian-American Konus-Wind spectrometer. More details can be found at
http://www.astro.mephi.ru/coronos-photon_conusrf_e.htm
The Konus-RF and Konus-Wind light curves of the SGR burst 090227 are
available at http://www.ioffe.ru/LEA/SGRs/090227_T49414/