The GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM)

The study of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is one of the primary scientific objectives of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) mission. With its high sensitivity to prompt and extended 20 MeV to 300 GeV burst emission, GLAST’s Large Area Telescope (LAT) is expected to yield significant progress in the understanding of GRB physics. To tie these breakthrough high-energy measurements to the known properties of GRBs at lower energies, the GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM) will provide spectra and timing in the 10 keV to 25 MeV energy range. The GBM will also have the capability to quickly localize burst sources to ∼15° over more than half the sky, allowing the LAT to re-point at particularly interesting bursts which occur outside its field of view. With combined LAT/GBM measurements GLAST will be able to characterize the spectral behavior of many bursts over nearly six decades in energy. This will allow the unknown aspects of high-energy burst emission to be explored in the context of well-known low-energy prop...