BurstCube
Launch Date: March 21, 2024
Start of Science Operations: May/June 2024
End of Operations: No specific requirement
Data Archive: HEASARC BurstCube Archive
BurstCube is a 6U CubeSat operated by NASA. It monitors the sky, autonomously detecting gamma-ray transients and relaying alerts to the ground via NASA's TDRS space communication network.
| Instruments | Energy Range | Field of View | Localization |
|---|---|---|---|
| BurstCube | 50-1000 keV | 6 sr | ~30° radius (statistical, 90% confidence) |
JSON-Serialized GCN Notice Types in GCN Kafka
BurstCube distributes alerts and localizations detections of gamma-ray transients. These notices are published on the GCN Kafka topic gcn.notices.burstcube.
The GCN schema and example JSON message files are available to use. See the Schema Browser for more information on the properties defined in the schema.
Detailed Description and Examples
| Type | Contents | Latency |
|---|---|---|
Alert | Detection of a burst | 5 min |
Alert (update) | Localization HEALPix map | 15 min |
Trigger Rates
| Type | Yearly Rates |
|---|---|
| Short gamma-ray bursts | 20 |
| Long gamma-ray bursts | 100 |
| Solar Flares | Unknown |