arXiv subjects

Charles A. Meegan

Publications and source records attributed to Charles A. Meegan.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

First Results from Fermi GBM Earth Occultation Monitoring: Observations of Soft Gamma-Ray Sources Above 100 keV

The NaI and BGO detectors on the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on Fermi are now being used for long-term monitoring of the hard X-ray/low energy gamma-ray sky. Using the Earth occultation technique as demonstrated previously by the BATSE instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, GBM can be used to produce multiband light curves and spectra for known sources and transient outbursts in the 8 keV to 1 MeV energy range with its NaI detectors and up to 40 MeV with its BGO detectors. Over 85% of the sky is viewed every orbit, and the precession of the Fermi orbit allows the entire sky to be viewed every ~26 days with sensitivity exceeding that of BATSE at energies below ~25 keV and above ~1.5 MeV. We briefly describe the technique and present preliminary results using the NaI detectors after the first two years of observations at energies above 100 keV. Eight sources are detected with a significance greater than 7 sigma: the Crab, Cyg X-1, SWIFT J1753.5-0127, 1E 1740-29, Cen A, GRS 1915+105, and the transient sources XTE J1752-223 and GX 339-4. Two of the sources, the Crab and Cyg X-1, have also been detected above 300 keV.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2008

Ground-based calibration and characterization of the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor Detectors

One of the scientific objectives of NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is the study of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). The Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) was designed to detect and localize bursts for the Fermi mission. By means of an array of 12 NaI(Tl) (8 keV to 1 MeV) and two BGO (0.2 to 40 MeV) scintillation detectors, GBM extends the energy range (20 MeV to > 300 GeV) of Fermi's main instrument, the Large Area Telescope, into the traditional range of current GRB databases. The physical detector response of the GBM instrument to GRBs is determined with the help of Monte Carlo simulations, which are supported and verified by on-ground individual detector calibration measurements. We present the principal instrument properties, which have been determined as a function of energy and angle, including the channel-energy relation, the energy resolution, the effective area and the spatial homogeneity.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

The Complete BATSE Spectral Catalog of Bright Gamma-Ray Bursts

We present a systematic spectral analysis of 350 bright Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) observed with the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE; $\sim$ 30 keV -- 2 MeV) with high temporal and spectral resolution. Our sample was selected from the complete set of 2704 BATSE GRBs based on their energy fluence or peak photon flux values to assure good statistics, and included 17 short GRBs. To obtain well-constrained spectral parameters, several photon models were used to fit each spectrum. We compared spectral parameters resulting from the fits using different models, and the spectral parameters that best represent each spectrum were statistically determined, taking into account the parameterization differences among the models. A thorough analysis was performed on 350 time-integrated and 8459 time-resolved burst spectra, and the effects of integration times in determining the spectral parameters were explored. Using the results, we studied correlations among spectral parameters and their evolution pattern within each burst. The resulting spectral catalog is the most comprehensive study of spectral properties of GRB prompt emission to date, and is available electronically from the High-Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC). The catalog provides reliable constraints on particle acceleration and emission mechanisms in GRBs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

The Complete Spectral Catalog of Bright BATSE Gamma-Ray Bursts

We present a systematic spectral analysis of 350 bright GRBs observed with BATSE, with high spectral and temporal resolution. Our sample was selected from the complete set of 2704 BATSE GRBs, and included 17 short GRBs. To obtain well-constrained spectral parameters, four different photon models were fitted and the spectral parameters that best represent each spectrum were statistically determined. A thorough analysis was performed on 350 time-integrated and 8459 time-resolved burst spectra. Using the results, we compared time-integrated and time-resolved spectral parameters, and also studied correlations among the parameters and their evolution within each burst. The resulting catalog is the most comprehensive study of spectral properties of GRB prompt emission to date, and provides constraints with exceptional statistics on particle acceleration and emission mechanisms in GRBs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

The GLAST Burst Monitor

The next large NASA mission in the field of gamma-ray astronomy, GLAST, is scheduled for launch in 2007. Aside from the main instrument LAT (Large-Area Telescope), a gamma-ray telescope for the energy range between 20 MeV and > 100 GeV, a secondary instrument, the GLAST burst monitor (GBM), is foreseen. With this monitor one of the key scientific objectives of the mission, the determination of the high-energy behaviour of gamma-ray bursts and transients can be ensured. Its task is to increase the detection rate of gamma-ray bursts for the LAT and to extend the energy range to lower energies (from ~10 keV to \~30 MeV). It will provide real-time burst locations over a wide FoV with sufficient accuracy to allow repointing the GLAST spacecraft. Time-resolved spectra of many bursts recorded with LAT and the burst monitor will allow the investigation of the relation between the keV and the MeV-GeV emission from GRBs over unprecedented seven decades of energy. This will help to advance our understanding of the mechanisms by which gamma-rays are generated in gamma-ray bursts.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

How Sample Completeness Affects Gamma-Ray Burst Classification

Unsupervised pattern recognition algorithms support the existence of three gamma-ray burst classes; Class I (long, large fluence bursts of intermediate spectral hardness), Class II (short, small fluence, hard bursts), and Class III (soft bursts of intermediate durations and fluences). The algorithms surprisingly assign larger membership to Class III than to either of the other two classes. A known systematic bias has been previously used to explain the existence of Class III in terms of Class I; this bias allows the fluences and durations of some bursts to be underestimated (Hakkila et al., ApJ 538, 165, 2000). We show that this bias primarily affects only the longest bursts and cannot explain the bulk of the Class III properties. We resolve the question of Class III existence by demonstrating how samples obtained using standard trigger mechanisms fail to preserve the duration characteristics of small peak flux bursts. Sample incompleteness is thus primarily responsible for the existence of Class III. In order to avoid this incompleteness, we show how a new dual timescale peak flux can be defined in terms of peak flux and fluence. The dual timescale peak flux preserves the duration distribution of faint bursts and correlates better with spectral hardness (and presumably redshift) than either peak flux or fluence. The techniques presented here are generic and have applicability to the studies of other transient events. The results also indicate that pattern recognition algorithms are sensitive to sample completeness; this can influence the study of large astronomical databases such as those found in a Virtual Observatory.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Mining Gamma-Ray Burst Data

Gamma-ray bursts provide what is probably one of the messiest of all astrophysical data sets. Burst class properties are indistinct, as overlapping characteristics of individual bursts are convolved with effects of instrumental and sampling biases. Despite these complexities, data mining techniques have allowed new insights to be made about gamma-ray burst data. We demonstrate how data mining techniques have simultaneously allowed us to learn about gamma-ray burst detectors and data collection, cosmological effects in burst data, and properties of burst subclasses. We discuss the exciting future of this field, and the web-based tool we are developing (with support from the NASA AISR Program). We invite others to join us in AI-guided gamma-ray burst classification (http://grb.mnsu.edu/grb/).

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Properties of Gamma-Ray Burst Classes

The three gamma-ray burst (GRB) classes identified by statistical clustering analysis (Mukherjee et al. 1998) are examined using the pattern recognition algorithm C4.5 (Quinlan 1986). Although the statistical existence of Class 3 (intermediate duration, intermediate fluence, soft) is supported, the properties of this class do not need to arise from a distinct source population. Class 3 properties can easily be produced from Class 1 (long, high fluence, intermediate hardness) by a combination of measurement error, hardness/intensity correlation, and a newly-identified BATSE bias (the fluence duration bias). Class 2 (short, low fluence, hard) does not appear to be related to Class 1.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

The Fluence Duration Bias

The fluence duration bias causes fluences and durations of faint gamma-ray bursts to be systematically underestimated relative to their peak fluxes. Using Monte Carlo analysis, we demonstrate how this effect explains characteristics of structure of the fluence vs. 1024 ms peak flux diagram. Evidence of this bias exists in the BATSE fluence duration database, and provides a partial explanation for the existence of burst class properties.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

The Error Distribution of BATSE GRB Locations

Empirical probability models for BATSE GRB location errors are developed via a Bayesian analysis of the separations between BATSE GRB locations and locations obtained with the InterPlanetary Network (IPN). Models are compared and their parameters estimated using 392 GRBs with single IPN annuli and 19 GRBs with intersecting IPN annuli. Most of the analysis is for the 4Br BATSE catalog; earlier catalogs are also analyzed. The simplest model that provides a good representation of the error distribution has 78% of the probability in a `core' term with a systematic error of 1.85 degrees and the remainder in an extended tail with a systematic error of 5.1 degrees, implying a 68% confidence radius for bursts with negligible statistical uncertainties of 2.2 degrees. There is evidence for a more complicated model in which the error distribution depends on the BATSE datatype that was used to obtain the location. Bright bursts are typically located using the CONT datatype, and according to the more complicated model, the 68% confidence radius for CONT-located bursts with negligible statistical uncertainties is 2.0 degrees.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

BATSE Sky Exposure

Angular sky exposure is presented for a number of published BATSE gamma-ray burst catalogs. A new algorithm was required due to telemetry gaps resulting from onboard tape recorder failures; the new algorithm improves the 1B Catalog exposure calculation. The most influential effects limiting BATSE's exposure are (1) deadtime due to triggering, (2) sky blockage by the Earth, and (3) trigger disabling when the spacecraft is in the SAA and over other specific Earth locations. Exposure has improved during the CGRO mission as a result of decreased Solar flares and magnetospheric particle events.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

GRB Repetition Limits from Current BATSE Observations

Revised upper limits on gamma-ray burst repetition rates are found using the BATSE 3B and 4B catalogs. A statistical repetition model is assumed in which sources burst at a mean rate but in which BATSE observes bursts randomly from each source.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

AI Gamma-Ray Burst Classification: Methodology/Preliminary Results

Artificial intelligence (AI) classifiers can be used to classify unknowns, refine existing classification parameters, and identify/screen out ineffectual parameters. We present an AI methodology for classifying new gamma-ray bursts, along with some preliminary results.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

The optical counterpart to gamma-ray burst GRB970228 observed using the Hubble Space Telescope

Although more than 2,000 astronomical gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been detected, and numerous models proposed to explain their occurrence, they have remained enigmatic owing to the lack of an obvious counterpart at other wavelengths. The recent ground-based detection of a transient source in the vicinity of GRB 970228 may therefore have provided a breakthrough. The optical counterpart appears to be embedded in an extended source which, if a galaxy as has been suggested, would lend weight to those models that place GRBs at cosmological distances. Here we report the observations using the Hubble Space Telescope of the transient counterpart and extended source 26 and 39 days after the initial gamma-ray outburst. We find that the counterpart has faded since the initial detection (and continues to fade), but the extended source exhibits no significant change in brightness between the two dates of observations reported here. The size and apparent constancy between the two epochs of HST observations imply that it is extragalactic, but its faintness makes a definitive statement about its nature difficult. Nevertheless, the decay profile of the transient source is consistent with a popular impulsive-fireball model, which assumes a merger between two neutron stars in a distant galaxy.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1996

Testing the Dipole and Quadrupole Moments of Galactic Models

If gamma-ray bursts originate in the Galaxy, at some level there should be a galactic pattern in their distribution on the sky. We test published galactic models by comparing their dipole and quadrupole moments with the moments of the BATSE 3B catalog. While many models have moments that are too large, several models are in acceptable or good agreement with the data.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1995

BATSE Observations of the Large-Scale Isotropy of Gamma-Ray Bursts

We use dipole and quadrupole statistics to test the large-scale isotropy of the first 1005 gamma-ray bursts observed by the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE). In addition to the entire sample of 1005 gamma-ray bursts, many subsets are examined. We use a variety of dipole and quadrupole statistics to search for Galactic and other predicted anisotropies and for anisotropies in a coordinate-system independent manner. We find the gamma-ray burst locations to be consistent with isotropy, e.g., for the total sample the observed Galactic dipole moment differs from the value predicted for isotropy by 0.9 sigma and the observed Galactic quadrupole moment by 0.3 sigma. We estimate for various models the anisotropies that could have been detected. If one-half of the locations were within 86 degrees of the Galactic center, or within 28 degrees of the Galactic plane, the ensuing dipole or quadrupole moment would have typically been detected at the 99% confidence level. We compare the observations with the dipole and quadrupole moments of various Galactic models. Several Galactic gamma-ray bursts models have moments within 2 sigma of the observations; most of the Galactic models proposed to date are no longer in acceptable agreement with the data. Although a spherical Dark Matter Halo distribution could be consistent with the data, the required core radius is larger than the core radius of the Dark Matter Halo used to explain the Galaxy's rotation curve. Gamma-ray bursts are much more isotropic than any observed Galactic population, strongly favoring but not requiring an origin at cosmological distances.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1995

Do Gamma-Ray Burst Sources Repeat?

The demonstration of repeated gamma-ray bursts from an individual source would severely constrain burst source models. Recent reports (Quashnock and Lamb 1993; Wang and Lingenfelter 1993) of evidence for repetition in the first BATSE burst catalog have generated renewed interest in this issue. Here, we analyze the angular distribution of 585 bursts of the second BATSE catalog (Meegan et al. 1994). We search for evidence of burst recurrence using the nearest and farthest neighbor statistic and the two-point angular correlation function. We find the data to be consistent with the hypothesis that burst sources do not repeat; however, a repeater fraction of up to about 20% of the observed bursts cannot be excluded.

astro-ph↗