Burst ArcSecond Imaging and Spectroscopy (BASIS): A Gamma-Ray Burst Mission Concept

Session 101 - X-rays and X-ray Bursts.
Display session, Thursday, January 16
Metropolitan Ballroom,

[101.01] Burst ArcSecond Imaging and Spectroscopy (BASIS): A Gamma-Ray Burst Mission Concept

N. Gehrels, B. Teegarden, L. Barbier, T. Cline, A. Parsons, J. Tueller (NASA/GSFC), S. Barthelmy, D. Palmer (USRA/GSFC), J. Krizmanic (NRC/GSFC), E. Fenimore (LANL), G. Fishman (NASA/MSFC), C. Kouveliotou (USRA/MSFC), K. Hurley (UC Berkeley), W. Paciesas (UA Huntsville), J. van Paradijs (UA Huntsville and U Amsterdam), S. Woosley (UC Santa Cruz), M. Leventhal (U Maryland), D. McCammon, W. Sanders (U Wisconsin), B. Schaefer (Yale)

We are studying a gamma-ray burst mission concept called Burst ArcSecond Imaging and Spectroscopy (BASIS) as part of NASA's New Mission Concepts for Astrophysics program. The scientific objectives are to accurately locate bursts, determine their distance scale, and measure the physical characteristics of the emission region. Arcsecond burst positions (angular resolution \sim30 arcsec, source positions \sim3 arcsec for >10^-6 erg/cm^2 bursts) would be obtained for \sim100 bursts per year using the 10-100 keV emission. This would allow the first deep, unconfused counterpart searches at other wavelengths. The key technological breakthrough that makes such measurements possible is the development of CdZnTe room-temperature semiconductor detectors with fine (\sim100 micron) spatial resolution. A secondary scientific objective is to perform a sensitive hard x-ray all-sky survey. A description of the mission concept and its scientific objectives will be presented.

Program listing for Thursday