The capability of COS-B to measure cosmic gamma-ray bursts.

The COS-B gamma ray burst detection system included a dome shaped, 11 sq m x 12 mm thick plastic scintillator viewed by nine photomultipliers for the rejection of charged particles; it is referred to as the anticoincidence counter. Its operational characteristics, as well as the gamma burst detection electronics, are presented. The gamma burst data-handling electronics designed to cope with the wide range of temporal behavior observed in gamma ray bursts compatible with the constraints of the limited buffer capacity is described. It is shown that COS-B will be sensitive to gamma ray bursts down to a few % of typical bursts previously observed. Burst onset times can be determined to approximately 1 msec and, with the data-handling system, a wide variety of burst profiles can be studied with a time resolution of 1.6 ms and good statistical accuracy.