C. Fellows

An exceptionally bright flare from SGR 1806-20 and the origins of short-duration γ-ray bursts

Soft-γ-ray repeaters (SGRs) are galactic X-ray stars that emit numerous short-duration (about 0.1 s) bursts of hard X-rays during sporadic active periods. They are thought to be magnetars: strongly magnetized neutron stars with emissions powered by the dissipation of magnetic energy. Here we report the detection of a long (380 s) giant flare from SGR 1806–20, which was much more luminous than any previous transient event observed in our Galaxy. (In the first 0.2 s, the flare released as much energy as the Sun radiates in a quarter of a million years.) Its power can be explained by a catastrophic instability involving global crust failure and magnetic reconnection on a magnetar, with possible large-scale untwisting of magnetic field lines outside the star. From a great distance this event would appear to be a short-duration, hard-spectrum cosmic γ-ray burst. At least a significant fraction of the mysterious short-duration γ-ray bursts may therefore come from extragalactic magnetars.

The Mars Odyssey Gamma-Ray Spectrometer Instrument Suite

The Mars Odyssey Gamma-Ray Spectrometer is a suite of three different instruments, a gamma subsystem (GS), a neutron spectrometer, and a high-energy neutron detector, working together to collect data that will permit the mapping of elemental concentrations on the surface of Mars. The instruments are complimentary in that the neutron instruments have greater sensitivity to low amounts of hydrogen, but their signals saturate as the hydrogen content gets high. The hydrogen signal in the GS, on the other hand, does not saturate at high hydrogen contents and is sensitive to small differences in hydrogen content even when hydrogen is very abundant. The hydrogen signal in the neutron instruments and the GS have a different dependence on depth, and thus by combining both data sets we can infer not only the amount of hydrogen, but constrain its distribution with depth. In addition to hydrogen, the GS determines the abundances of several other elements. The instruments, the basis of the technique, and the data processing requirements are described as are some expected applications of the data to scientific problems.

Discovery of GRB 020405 and Its Late Red Bump

We present the discovery of GRB 020405 made with the Interplanetary Network (IPN). With a duration of 60 s, the burst appears to be a typical long-duration event. We observed the 75 arcmin2 IPN error region with the Mount Stromlo Observatorys 50 inch robotic telescope and discovered a transient source that subsequently decayed and was also associated with a variable radio source. We identify this source as the afterglow of GRB 020405. Subsequent observations by other groups found varying polarized flux and established a redshift of 0.690 to the host galaxy. Motivated by the low redshift, we triggered observations with WFPC2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Modeling the early ground-based data with a jet model, we find a clear red excess over the decaying optical light curves that is present between day 10 and day 141 (the last HST epoch). This bump has the spectral and temporal features expected of an underlying supernova (SN). In particular, the red color of the putative SN is similar to that of the SN associated with GRB 011121 at late time. Restricting the sample of GRBs to those with z < 0.7, a total of five bursts, red bumps at late times are found in GRB 970228, GRB 011121, and GRB 020405. It is possible that the simplest idea, namely, that all long-duration γ-ray bursts have underlying SNe with a modest dispersion in their properties (especially peak luminosity), is sufficient to explain the nondetections.

The Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) Experiment on the Huygens Entry Probe of Titan

The payload of the Huygens Probe into the atmosphere of Titan includes the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR). This instrument includes an integrated package of several optical instruments built around a silicon charge coupled device (CCD) detector, a pair of linear InGaAs array detectors, and several individual silicon detectors. Fiber optics are used extensively to feed these detectors with light collected from three frame imagers, an upward and downward-looking visible spectrometer, an upward and downward looking near-infrared spectrometer, upward and downward looking violet phtotometers, a four-channel solar aerole camera, and a sun sensor that determines the azimuth and zenith angle of the sun and measures the flux in the direct solar beam at 940 nm. An onboard optical calibration system uses a small lamp and fiber optics to track the relative sensitivity of the different optical instruments relative to each other during the seven year cruise to Titan. A 20 watt lamp and collimator are used to provide spectrally continuous illumination of the surface during the last 100 m of the descent for measurements of the reflection spectrum of the surface. The instrument contains software and hardware data compressors to permit measurements of upward and downward direct and diffuse solar flux between 350 and 1700 nm in some 330 spectral bands at approximately 2 km vertical resolution from an alititude of 160 km to the surface. The solar aureole camera measures the brightness of a 6° wide strip of the sky from 25 to 75° zenith angle near and opposite the azimuth of the sun in two passbands near 500 and 935 nm using vertical and horizontal polarizers in each spectral channel at a similar vertical resolution. The downward-looking spectrometers provide the reflection spectrum of the surface at a total of some 600 locations between 850 and 1700 nm and at more than 3000 locations between 480 and 960 nm. Some 500 individual images of the surface are expected which can be assembled into about a dozen panoramic mosaics covering nadir angles from 6° to 96° at all azimuths. The spatial resolution of the images varies from 300 m at 160 km altitude to some 20 cm in the last frames. The scientific objectives of the experiment fall into four areas including (1) measurement of the solar heating profile for studies of the thermal balance of Titan; (2) imaging and spectral reflection measurements of the surface for studies of the composition, topography, and physical processes which form the surface as well as for direct measurements of the wind profile during the descent; (3) measurements of the brightness and degree of linear polarization of scattered sunlight including the solar aureole together with measurements of the extinction optical depth of the aerosols as a function of wavelength and altitude to study the size, shape, vertical distribution, optical properties, sources and sinks of aerosols in Titans atmosphere; and (4) measurements of the spectrum of downward solar flux to study the composition of the atmosphere, especially the mixing ratio profile of methane throughout the descent. We briefly outline the methods by which the flight instrument was calibrated for absolute response, relative spectral response, and field of view over a very wide temperature range. We also give several examples of data collected in the Earths atmosphere using a spare instrument including images obtained from a helicopter flight program, reflection spectra of various types of terrain, solar aureole measurements including the determination of aerosol size, and measurements of the downward flux of violet, visible, and near infrared sunlight. The extinction optical depths measured as a function of wavelength are compared to models of the Earths atmosphere and are divided into contributions from molecular scattering, aerosol extinction, and molecular absorption. The test observations during simulated descents with mountain and rooftop venues in the Earths atmosphere are very important for driving out problems in the calibration and interpretion of the observations to permit rapid analysis of the observations after Titan entry.

A MISSING-LINK IN THE SUPERNOVA–GRB CONNECTION: THE CASE OF SN 2012ap

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are characterized by ultra-relativistic outflows, while supernovae are generally characterized by non-relativistic ejecta. GRB afterglows decelerate rapidly, usually within days, because their low-mass ejecta rapidly sweep up a comparatively larger mass of circumstellar material. However, supernovae with heavy ejecta can be in nearly free expansion for centuries. Supernovae were thought to have non-relativistic outflows except for a few relativistic ones accompanied by GRBs. This clear division was blurred by SN 2009bb, the first supernova with a relativistic outflow without an observed GRB. However, the ejecta from SN 2009bb was baryon loaded and in nearly free expansion for a year, unlike GRBs. We report the first supernova discovered without a GRB but with rapidly decelerating mildly relativistic ejecta, SN 2012ap. We discovered a bright and rapidly evolving radio counterpart driven by the circumstellar interaction of the relativistic ejecta. However, we did not find any coincident GRB with an isotropic fluence of more than one-sixth of the fluence from GRB 980425. This shows for the first time that central engines in SNe Ic, even without an observed GRB, can produce both relativistic and rapidly decelerating outflows like GRBs.

A new analysis of the short-duration, hard-spectrum GRB 051103, a possible extragalactic soft gamma repeater giant flare

GRB 051103 is considered to be a candidate soft gamma repeater (SGR) extragalactic giant magnetar flare by virtue of its proximity on the sky to M81/M82, as well as its time history, localization and energy spectrum. We have derived a refined interplanetary network localization for this burst which reduces the size of the error box by over a factor of 2. We examine its time history for evidence of a periodic component, which would be one signature of an SGR giant flare, and conclude that this component is neither detected nor detectable under reasonable assumptions. We analyse the time-resolved energy spectra of this event with improved time and energy resolution, and conclude that although the spectrum is very hard its temporal evolution at late times cannot be determined, which further complicates the giant flare association. We also present new optical observations reaching limiting magnitudes of R > 24.5, about 4-mag deeper than previously reported. In tandem with serendipitous observations of M81 taken immediately before and 1 month after the burst, these place strong constraints on any rapidly variable sources in the region of the refined error ellipse proximate to M81. We do not find any convincing afterglow candidates from either background galaxies or sources in M81, although within the refined error region we do locate two UV bright star-forming regions which may host SGRs. A supernova remnant (SNR) within the error ellipse could provide further support for an SGR giant flare association, but we were unable to identify any SNR within the error ellipse. These data still do not allow strong constraints on the nature of the GRB 051103 progenitor, and suggest that candidate extragalactic SGR giant flares will be difficult, although not impossible, to confirm.

Mars Odyssey Joins the Third Interplanetary Network

The Mars Odyssey spacecraft carries two experiments that are capable of detecting cosmic gamma-ray bursts and soft gamma repeaters. Since 2001 April they have detected over 275 bursts and, in conjunction with the other spacecraft of the interplanetary network, localized many of them rapidly and precisely enough to allow sensitive multiwavelength counterpart searches. We present the Mars Odyssey mission and describe the burst capabilities of the two experiments in detail. We explain how the spacecraft timing and ephemeris have been verified in-flight using bursts from objects whose precise positions are known by other means. Finally, we show several examples of localizations and discuss future plans for the Odyssey mission and the network as a whole.

OCAMS: The OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite

The OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite (OCAMS) will acquire images essential to collecting a sample from the surface of Bennu. During proximity operations, these images will document the presence of satellites and plumes, record spin state, enable an accurate model of the asteroid’s shape, and identify any surface hazards. They will confirm the presence of sampleable regolith on the surface, observe the sampling event itself, and image the sample head in order to verify its readiness to be stowed. They will document Bennu’s history as an example of early solar system material, as a microgravity body with a planetesimal size-scale, and as a carbonaceous object. OCAMS is fitted with three cameras. The MapCam will record color images of Bennu as a point source on approach to the asteroid in order to connect Bennu’s ground-based point-source observational record to later higher-resolution surface spectral imaging. The SamCam will document the sample site before, during, and after it is disturbed by the sample mechanism. The PolyCam, using its focus mechanism, will observe the sample site at sub-centimeter resolutions, revealing surface texture and morphology. While their imaging requirements divide naturally between the three cameras, they preserve a strong degree of functional overlap. OCAMS and the other spacecraft instruments will allow the OSIRIS-REx mission to collect a sample from a microgravity body on the same visit during which it was first optically acquired from long range, a useful capability as humanity reaches out to explore near-Earth, Main-Belt and Jupiter Trojan asteroids.

Extremely long hard bursts observed by Konus‐Wind

We report the observations of the prompt emission of the extremely long hard burst, GRB 060814B, discovered by Konus‐Wind and localized by the IPN. The observations reveal a smooth, hard, ∼40‐min long pulse followed by weaker emission seen several hours after the burst onset. We also present the Konus‐Wind data on similar burst, GRB 971208, localized by BATSE/IPN. And finally we discuss the different possible origins of these unusual events.

The Interplanetary Network Supplement to the BeppoSAX Gamma-ray Burst Catalogs

Between 1996 July and 2002 April, one or more spacecraft of the interplanetary network detected 786 cosmic gamma-ray bursts that were also detected by the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor and/or Wide-Field X-Ray Camera experiments aboard the BeppoSAX spacecraft. During this period, the network consisted of up to six spacecraft, and using triangulation, the localizations of 475 bursts were obtained. We present the localization data for these events.