Sky localization of long gamma ray bursts from an orbiting satellite

TYPEAstrophysics Seminar
Speaker:Sharon Mitrani
Affiliation:Department of Physics, Technion
Date:10.08.2022
Time:15:00 - 16:00
Location:Lidow 620
Abstract:

The GALI (GAmma-ray burst Localizing Instrument) localization of GRBs utilizes the relative counts that are detected in each angle on numerous scintillator cubes. The localization of long GRBs is challenging due to the angular motion of the satellite. We research methods to identify the direction of long GRBs by a rotating platform in the laboratory using a constant Am-241 calibration source. The goal is to develop and optimize an algorithm that uses only part of the GRB light curve for localization. Surprisingly, we find that the localization of the rotating detector is the average direction of the movement, while the statistical error around this average direction does not reflect the rotation. We test whether after reaching a certain amount of counts, does accumulating more data as the satellite rotates improve the localization, or not