The gamma-ray burst trigger ECLAIRs on-board SVOM
Abstract
The Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is a French-Chinese satellite mission dedicated to Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) studies. The project was adopted in 2017 and started its detailed definition (phase C), before construction and launch foreseen in late 2021. With its set of 4 on-board instruments observing the sky in the X-ray, gamma-ray and visible-band, as well as a set of dedicated prompt-observation and follow-up ground-based visible-band telescopes, SVOM will study GBRs in great details, including their temporal and spectral properties of the prompt and afterglow emission from visible to gamma-rays. The start of every GRB observation sequence is given by the coded-mask telescope ECLAIRs on-board SVOM. Its on-board electronics system equipped with a real-time GRB-triggering software, continuously analyzes the 2 sr-wide field-of-view of the telescope in the 4-120 keV energy range, repeatedly performing coded-mask deconvolutions in order to detect and localize the GRBs for SVOM. Thanks to its low-energy threshold, ECLAIRs is particularly sensitive to X-ray rich and redshifted GRBs, but care has to be taken to handle known sources and variable background on-board. After detection, ECLAIRs requests the spacecraft to slew autonomously, to perform GRB follow-up observations with the on-board narrow field-of-view telescopes MXT in X-rays and VT in the visible-band. SVOM also alerts the worldwide community of follow-up observers via a dedicated VHF network placed under the satellite track. This paper presents the status of the ECLAIRs on-board GRB-trigger system.
- Publication:
-
42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018cosp...42E3010S