Automatic NEAR-XGRS data processing system for rapid and precise GRB localizations with the interplanetary network

Scott D. Barthelmy; Thomas L. Cline; P. Butterworth; David M. Palmer; Jacob I. Trombka; Timothy Patrick McClanahan; Richard H. Gold M.D.; Kevin C. Hurley

doi:10.1117/12.366611

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19 October 1999 Automatic NEAR-XGRS data processing system for rapid and precise GRB localizations with the interplanetary network

Scott D. Barthelmy, Thomas L. Cline, P. Butterworth, David M. Palmer, Jacob I. Trombka, Timothy Patrick McClanahan, Richard H. Gold M.D., Kevin C. Hurley

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Proceedings Volume 3768, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics; (1999) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.366611
Event: SPIE's International Symposium on Optical Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation, 1999, Denver, CO, United States

Abstract

The on-board flight software for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft was modified to produce continuous 1-sec sampled rate information from the shield of the x-ray and gamma ray spectrometer (XGRS) instrument. Since the XGRS shield can also detect gamma ray bursts (GRB), this rate information can be used in combination with the GRB detections by the Ulysses and near-Earth GRB instruments as part of the interplanetary network (IPN) to triangulate the source direction of GRBs. It is the long baseline of NEAR combined with the Ulysses baseline that makes small error box locations possible. We have developed an automated system to analyze the periodic telemetry dumps from the NEAR spacecraft. It extracts this new data type, scans the ate information for increases which are plausibly of GRB origin, and combines these with the GRB detections from the others spacecraft. Because the processing is automated, the time delay to produce the triangulated positions is kept to a minimum, up to 48 hours. This automated processing and distribution of the GRB locations is done within the GRB Coordinates Network system. About 60 locations per year with errors ranging from a few to tens of arcminutes are expected. These rapid precise localizations may provide about 10 times the rate currently provided by the WFC and NFI instruments on BeppoSAX.

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Scott D. Barthelmy, Thomas L. Cline, P. Butterworth, David M. Palmer, Jacob I. Trombka, Timothy Patrick McClanahan, Richard H. Gold M.D., and Kevin C. Hurley "Automatic NEAR-XGRS data processing system for rapid and precise GRB localizations with the interplanetary network", Proc. SPIE 3768, Hard X-Ray, Gamma-Ray, and Neutron Detector Physics, (19 October 1999); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.366611

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