[en] The launch of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) in 2007 will open the possibility of combined studies of astrophysical sources with existing ground-based VHE γ-ray experiments such as H.E.S.S., VERITAS and MAGIC. Ground-based γ-ray observatories provide complementary capabilities for spectral, temporal, spatial and population studies of high-energy γ-ray sources. Joint observations cover a huge energy range, from 20 MeV to over 50 TeV. The LAT will survey the entire sky every three hours, allowing us to perform long-term monitoring of variable sources under uniform observation conditions and to detect flaring sources promptly. Imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs) will complement these observations with high-sensitivity pointed observations on regions of interest

[en] In order to estimate the ability of the GLAST/LAT to reject unwanted background of charged particles, optimize the on-board processing, size the required telemetry and optimize the GLAST orbit, we developed a detailed model of the background particles that would affect the LAT. In addition to the well-known components of the cosmic radiation, we included splash and reentrant components of protons, electrons (e+ and e-) from 10 MeV and beyond as well as the albedo gamma rays produced by cosmic ray interactions with the atmosphere. We made estimates of the irreducible background components produced by positrons and hadrons interacting in the multilayered micrometeorite shield and spacecraft surrounding the LAT and note that because the orbital debris has increased, the shielding required and hence the background are larger than were present in EGRET. Improvements to the model are currently being made to include the east-west effect

[en] GRB 120323A is a very intense short gamma -ray burst (GRB) detected simultaneously during its prompt γ -ray emission phase with the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the Konus experiment on board the Wind satellite. GBM and Konus operate in the keV–MeV regime; however, the GBM range is broader toward both the low and the high parts of the γ -ray spectrum. Analyses of such bright events provide a unique opportunity to check the consistency of the data analysis as well as cross-calibrate the two instruments. We performed time-integrated and coarse time-resolved spectral analysis of GRB 120323A prompt emission. We conclude that the analyses of GBM and Konus data are only consistent when using a double-hump spectral shape for both data sets; in contrast, the single hump of the empirical Band function, traditionally used to fit GRB prompt emission spectra, leads to significant discrepancies between GBM and Konus analysis results. Our two-hump model is a combination of a thermal-like and a non-thermal component. We interpret the first component as a natural manifestation of the jet photospheric emission.

[en] In order to estimate the ability of the GLAST/LAT to reject unwanted background of charged particles, optimize the on-board processing, size the required telemetry and optimize the GLAST orbit, we developed a detailed model of the background particles that would affect the LAT. In addition to the well-known components of the cosmic radiation, we included splash and reentrant components of protons, electrons (e+ and e-) from 10 MeV and beyond as well as the albedo gamma rays produced by cosmic ray interactions with the atmosphere. We made estimates of the irreducible background components produced by positrons and hadrons interacting in the multilayered micrometeorite shield and spacecraft surrounding the LAT and note that because the orbital debris has increased, the shielding required and hence the background are larger than were present in EGRET. Improvements to the model are currently being made to include the east-west effect

[en] The paradigm for gamma-ray burst (GRB) prompt emission is changing. Since early in the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) era, the empirical Band function has been considered a good description of the keV–MeV γ-ray prompt emission spectra despite the fact that its shape was very often inconsistent with the theoretical predictions, especially those expected in pure synchrotron emission scenarios. We have recently established a new observational model analyzing data of the NASA Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. In this model, GRB prompt emission would be a combination of three main emission components: (i) a thermal-like component that we have interpreted so far as emission from the jet photosphere, (ii) a non-thermal component that we have interpreted so far as either synchrotron radiation from the propagating and accelerated charged particles within the jet or reprocessed jet photospheric emission, and (iii) an additional non-thermal (cutoff) power law (PL) extending from low to high energies in γ-rays and most likely of inverse Compton origin. In this article we reanalyze some of the bright GRBs, namely GRBs 941017, 970111, and 990123, observed with the Burst And Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) on board CGRO with the new model. We conclude that BATSE data for these three GRBs are fully consistent with the recent results obtained with Fermi: some bright BATSE GRBs exhibit three separate components during the prompt phase with similar spectral parameters as those reported from Fermi data. In addition, the analysis of the BATSE GRBs with the new prompt emission model results in a relation between the time-resolved energy flux of the non-thermal component, $F_{\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}}$, and its corresponding νF${}_{\mathrm{\nu <!--\; ??\; -->}}$ spectral peak energy, $E_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{k},\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}}$ (i.e., $F_{\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}}$–$E_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{k},\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}}$), which has a similar index—when fitted to a PL—as the one initially derived from Fermi data. For GRBs with known redshifts (z) this results in a possible universal relation between the luminosity of the non-thermal component, $L_{\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}}$, and its corresponding νF${}_{\mathrm{\nu <!--\; ??\; -->}}$ spectral peak energy in the rest frame, $E_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{k},\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{N}\mathrm{T},\mathrm{r}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{t}}$ (i.e., $L_{\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}}$–$E_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{k},\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{N}\mathrm{T},\mathrm{r}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{t}}$). We estimated the redshifts of GRBs 941017 and 970111 using GRB 990123—with z = 1.61—as a reference. The estimated redshift for GRB 941017 is typical for long GRBs and the estimated redshift for GRB 970111 is right in the range of the expected values for this burst.

[en] The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), scheduled to be launched in 2007, will provide the capability to observe Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) from 10 keV to more than 300 GeV. The spectral and temporal properties of GRBs above a few GeV are still almost unknown, extending these detections to higher energies with GLAST will have a large impact on our knowledge of the particle acceleration and emission processes occuring within these sources. In this work we review the requirements and the opportunities for good coordination of GLAST with ground-based telescopes operating above a few tens of GeV, and examine the potential of such simultaneous observations in terms of expected rates of alerts

[en] Over the past few years, evidence has been accumulated in support of the existence of a thermal-like component during the prompt phase of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, this component, which is often associated with the GRB jet's photosphere, is usually subdominant compared to a much stronger non-thermal one. The prompt emission of GRB 131014A—detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (hereafter Fermi)—provides a unique opportunity to trace the history of this thermal-like component. Indeed, the thermal emission in GRB 131014A is much more intense than in other GRBs and a pure thermal episode is observed during the initial 0.16 s. The thermal-like component cools monotonically during the first second while the non-thermal emission kicks off. The intensity of the non-thermal component progressively increases until being energetically dominant at late time, similar to what is typically observed. This is a perfect scenario to disentangle the thermal component from the non-thermal component. The initial decaying and cooling phase of the thermal-like component is followed by a strong re-brightening and a re-heating episode; however, despite a much brighter second emission phase, the temperature of the thermal component does not reach its initial value. This re-brightening episode is followed by a global constant cooling until the end of the burst. We note that there is a shallower low-energy spectral slope than the typical index value +1, corresponding to a pure Planck function, which  better matches with the thermal-like spectral shape; a spectral index around +0.6 seems to be in better agreement with the data. The non-thermal component is adequately fitted with a Band function whose low- and high-energy power-law indices are ∼−0.7 and <∼−3, respectively; this is also statistically globally equivalent to a cutoff power law with a ∼−0.7 index. This is in agreement with our previous results. Finally, a strong correlation is observed between the time-resolved energy flux, $F_{\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}},$ and the corresponding spectral peak energy, $E_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{k},\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}},$ of the non-thermal component with a slope similar to the one reported in our previous articles. Assuming a universal relation between the time-resolved luminosity of the non-thermal component, $L_{\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}},$ and its rest frame $E_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{k},\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}},$ $E_{\mathrm{p}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{k},\mathrm{i}}^{\mathrm{r}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{s}\mathrm{t},\mathrm{n}\mathrm{T}\mathrm{h}},$ which we derived from a limited sample of GRBs detected by Fermi, we estimate a redshift of ∼1.55 for GRB 131014A, which is a typical value for long GRBs. These observational results are consistent with the models in which the non-thermal emission is produced well above the GRB jet photosphere but they may also be compatible with other scenarios (e.g., dissipative photosphere) that are not discussed in this article.

[en] The new and extreme population of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) shows several new features in high-energy gamma rays that are providing interesting and unexpected clues into GRB prompt and afterglow emission mechanisms. Over the last six years, it has been Swift that has provided the robust data set of UV/optical and X-ray afterglow observations that opened many windows into components of GRB emission structure. The relationship between the LAT-detected GRBs and the well-studied, fainter, and less energetic GRBs detected by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope is only beginning to be explored by multi-wavelength studies. We explore the large sample of GRBs detected by BAT only, BAT and the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM), and GBM and LAT, focusing on these samples separately in order to search for statistically significant differences between the populations, using only those GRBs with measured redshifts in order to physically characterize these objects. We disentangle which differences are instrumental selection effects versus intrinsic properties in order to better understand the nature of the special characteristics of the LAT bursts.

[en] e-ASTROGAM (‘enhanced ASTROGAM’) is a breakthrough Observatory space mission, with a detector composed by a Silicon tracker, a calorimeter, and an anticoincidence system, dedicated to the study of the non-thermal Universe in the photon energy range from 0.3 MeV to 3 GeV – the lower energy limit can be pushed to energies as low as 150 keV for the tracker, and to 30 keV for calorimetric detection. The mission is based on an advanced space-proven detector technology, with unprecedented sensitivity, angular and energy resolution, combined with polarimetric capability. Thanks to its performance in the MeV–GeV domain, substantially improving its predecessors, e-ASTROGAM will open a new window on the non-thermal Universe, making pioneering observations of the most powerful Galactic and extragalactic sources, elucidating the nature of their relativistic outflows and their effects on the surroundings. With a line sensitivity in the MeV energy range one to two orders of magnitude better than previous generation instruments, e-ASTROGAM will determine the origin of key isotopes fundamental for the understanding of supernova explosion and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The mission will provide unique data of significant interest to a broad astronomical community, complementary to powerful observatories such as LIGO-Virgo-GEO600-KAGRA, SKA, ALMA, E-ELT, TMT, LSST, JWST, Athena, CTA, IceCube, KM3NeT, and LISA.

[en] The origin of prompt emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) remains to be an open question. Correlated prompt optical and γ -ray emission observed in a handful of GRBs strongly suggests a common emission region, but failure to adequately fit the broadband GRB spectrum prompted the hypothesis of different emission mechanisms for the low- and high-energy radiations. We demonstrate that our multi-component model for GRB γ -ray prompt emission provides an excellent fit to GRB 110205A from optical to γ -ray energies. Our results show that the optical and highest γ -ray emissions have the same spatial and spectral origin, which is different from the bulk of the X- and softest γ -ray radiation. Finally, our accurate redshift estimate for GRB 110205A demonstrates promise for using GRBs as cosmological standard candles.