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The History of BATSE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2013

G.J. Fishman
G.J. Fishman*
Affiliation:
ZP12, NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, 35812 USA. e-mail: [email protected] ;
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Abstract

The BATSE experiment on the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory was the first large detectorsystem designed for the study of gamma-ray bursts. The eight large-area detectors allowedfull-sky coverage and were optimized to operate in the primary energy region of emissionof most GRBs. BATSE provided detailed observations of the temporal and spectralcharacteristics of several thousand GRBs, and it was the first experiment to provide rapidnotifications of the coarse location of many them. It also provided strong evidence forthe cosmological distances to GRBs through the observation of the sky distribution andintensity distribution of numerous GRBs. The large number of GRBs observed with the high-sensitivity BATSE detectors continues to provide a database of GRB spectral and temporalproperties in the primary energy range of GRB emission that will likely not be exceededfor at least another decade. The origin and development of the BATSE experiment, somehighlights from the mission and its continuing legacy are described in this paper.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Astronomical Society Publications Series , Volume 61: Gamma-ray Bursts: 15 Years of GRB Afterglows – Progenitors,Environments and Host Galaxies from the Nearby to the Early Universe , 2013 , pp. 5 - 14
Copyright
© EAS, EDP Sciences 2013

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