Detection of gamma-ray bursts from Andromeda
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637 (United States)
If gamma-ray bursts originate in a corona around the Milky Way, it should also be possible to detect them from a similar corona around Andromeda. Adopting a simple model of high velocity neutron star corona, we evaluate the ability of instruments on existing missions to detect an excess of bursts toward Andromeda. We also calculate the optimal properties of an instrument designed to detect such an excess. We find that if the bursts radiate isotropically, an experiment with a sampling distance d{sub max} > or approx. 500 kpc could detect a significant excess of bursts in the direction of Andromeda in a few years of observation. If the radiation is beamed along the neutron star's direction of motion, an experiment with d{sub max} > or approx. 800 kpc would detect such an excess in a similar amount of time, provided that the width of the beam is greater than 10 deg. Lack of an excess toward Andromeda would therefore be compelling evidence that the bursts are cosmological in origin if made by an instrument at least 50 times more sensitive than BATSE, given current constraints on Galactic corona models. Comparisons with detailed dynamical calculations of the spatial distribution of high velocity neutron stars in the coronae around the Milky Way and Andromeda confirm these conclusions.
- OSTI ID:
- 21163537
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 384, Issue 1; Conference: 3. Huntsville symposium on gamma-ray bursts, Huntsville, AL (United States), 25-27 Oct 1995; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.51557; (c) 1996 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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