0000000000177715
AUTHOR
J. ŘíPa
The Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory's space GRB mission and science
AbstractThe Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO) is a space mission to detect the early moments of an explosion from Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), thus enhancing our understanding of the GRB mechanism. It consists of the UFFO Burst & Trigger telescope (UBAT) for the recognition of GRB positions using hard X-ray from GRBs. It also contains the Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT) for the fast detection of UV-optical photons from GRBs. It is designed to begin the UV-optical observations in less than a few seconds after the trigger. The UBAT is based on a coded-mask X-ray camera with a wide field of view (FOV) and is composed of the coded mask, a hopper and a detector module. The SMT has a fast rotata…
Localisation of gamma-ray bursts from the combined SpIRIT+HERMES-TP/SP nano-satellite constellation
Multi-messenger observations of the transient sky to detect cosmic explosions and counterparts of gravitational wave mergers critically rely on orbiting wide-FoV telescopes to cover the wide range of wavelengths where atmospheric absorption and emission limit the use of ground facilities. Thanks to continuing technological improvements, miniaturised space instruments operating as distributed-aperture constellations are offering new capabilities for the study of high energy transients to complement ageing existing satellites. In this paper we characterise the performance of the upcoming joint SpIRIT + HERMES-TP/SP nano-satellite constellation for the localisation of high-energy transients th…
Calibration and Simulation of the GRB trigger detector of the Ultra Fast Flash Observatory
The UFFO (Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory) is a GRB detector on board the Lomonosov satellite, to be launched in 2013. The GRB trigger is provided by an X-ray detector, called UBAT (UFFO Burst Alarm & Trigger Telescope), which detects X-rays from the GRB and then triggers to determine the direction of the GRB and then alerts the Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT) to turn in the direction of the GRB and record the optical photon fluxes. This report details the calibration of the two components: the MAPMTs and the YSO crystals and simulations of the UBAT. The results shows that this design can observe a GRB within a field of view of ±35° and can trigger in a time scale as short as 0.2 – 1.0 s af…
In-Flight Calibrations of UFFO-Pathfinder
The Ultra-Fast Flash Observatory (UFFO), which will be launched onboard the Lomonosov spacecraft, contains two crucial instruments: UFFO Burst Alert & Trigger Telescope (UBAT) for detection and localization of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) and the fast-response Slewing Mirror Telescope (SMT) designed for the observation of the prompt optical/UV counterparts. Here we discuss the in-space calibrations of the UBAT detector and SMT telescope. After the launch, the observations of the standard X-ray sources such as pulsar in Crab nebula will provide data for necessary calibrations of UBAT. Several standard stars will be used for the photometric calibration of SMT. The celestial X-ray sources, e.g.…