Fast Moving Fronts Comments by Neil Gehrels

ESI Special Topics, September 2006
Citing URL: http://www.esi-topics.com/fmf/2006/september06-NeilGehrels.html

From •>>September 2006

Neil Gehrels answers a few questions about this month's fast moving front in the field of Space Science.

Field: Space Science
Article: The Swift gamma-ray burst mission
Authors: Gehrels, N;Chincarini, G;Giommi, P;Mason, KO;Nousek, JA;Wells, AA;White, NE;Barthelmy, SD;Burrows, DN;Cominsky, LR;Hurley, KC;Marshall, FE;Meszaros, P;Roming, PWA;Angelini, L;Barbier, LM;Belloni, T;Campana, S;Caraveo, PA;Chester, MM;Citterio, O;Cline, TL;Cropper, MS;Cummings, JR;Dean, AJ;Feigelson, ED;Fenimore, EE;Frail, DA;Fruchter, AS;Garmire, GP;Gendreau, K;Ghisellini, G;Greiner, J;Hill, JE;Hunsberger, SD;Krimm, HA;Kulkarni, SR;Kumar, P;Lebrun, F;Lloyd-Ronning, NM;Markwardt, CB;Mattson, BJ;Mushotzky, RF;Norris, JP;Osborne, J;Paczynski, B;Palmer, DM;Park, HS;Parsons, AM;Paul, J;Rees, MJ;Reynolds, CS;Rhoads, JE;Sasseen, TP;Schaefer, BE;Short, AT;Smale, AP;Smith, IA;Stella, L;Tagliaferri, G;Takahashi, T;Tashiro, M;Townsley, LK;Tueller, J;Turner, MJL;Vietri, M;Voges, W;Ward, MJ;Willingale, R;Zerbi, FM;Zhang, WW
Journal: ASTROPHYS J, 611 (2): 1005-1020 Part 1, AUG 20 2004
Addresses:
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA.
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA.
Osserv Astron Brera, I-20121 Milan, Italy.
Univ Milan Bicocca, Dipartimento Fis, I-20133 Milan, Italy.
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Sci Data Ctr, I-00198 Rome, Italy.
Univ Coll London, Mullard Space Sci Lab, Dorking RH5 6NT, Surrey, England.
Penn State Univ, Dept Astron & Astrophys, University Pk, PA 16802 USA.
Univ Leicester, Space Res Ctr, Leicester LE1 7RH, Leics, England.
Sonoma State Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Rohnert Pk, CA 94928 USA.
Univ Calif Berkeley, Space Sci Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA.
Univ Space Res Assoc, Columbia, MD 21044 USA.
CNR, Ist Astrofis Spaziale & Fis Cosm, I-20133 Milan, Italy.
CNR, Washington, DC 20418 USA.
Univ Southampton, Dept Phys & Astron, Southampton S017 1BJ, Hants, England.
Los Alamos Natl Lab, Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA.
Natl Radio Astron Observ, Socorro, NM 87801 USA.
Space Telescope Sci Inst, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA.
Max Planck Inst Extraterr Phys, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
CALTECH, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA.
Univ Texas, Dept Astron, Austin, TX 78712 USA.
CEA, DSM, DAPNIA, SAP,Ctr Etud Saclay, F-91191 Gif Sur Yvette, France.
Univ Toronto, McClennan Labs, Canadian Inst Theoret Astrophys, Toronto, ON M5S 3H8, Canada.
Univ Maryland, Dept Astron, College Pk, MD 20742 USA.
Commun EER L3, Chantilly, VA USA.
Univ Leicester, Dept Phys & Astron, Leicester LE1 7RH, Leics, England.
Princeton Univ Observ, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA.
Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab, Livermore, CA 94551 USA.
Univ Cambridge, Inst Astron, Cambridge CB3 0HA, England.
Univ Calif Santa Barbara, Dept Phys, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 USA.
Rice Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Houston, TX 77005 USA.
Osserv Astron Roma, I-00040 Rome, Italy.
Inst Space & Astronaut Sci, Kanagawa 2298510, Japan.
Univ Tokyo, Dept Phys, Bunkyo Ku, Tokyo 113, Japan.
Saitama Univ, Dept Phys, Sakura, Saitama, Japan.
Univ Florence, Osservatorio Astrofis Arcetri, I-50125 Florence, Italy.

   Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

“The study of gamma-ray bursts is leading to an understanding of how and when stars first formed after the Big Bang and how they change the evolution of the universe”

This paper describes NASA’s SWIFT satellite. SWIFT is a powerful new observatory for observing the bright flashes of gamma radiation—called gamma-ray bursts—coming from distant galaxies. The results from SWIFT have stimulated a large interest among the astronomical community. Most recent papers in this field are based on SWIFT data and cite the satellite description paper.

   Does it describe a new discovery, methodology, or synthesis of knowledge?

This paper describes a new methodology for observing gamma-ray bursts. The SWIFT satellite is the first of its kind which contains onboard processing of the burst detection data and autonomous spacecraft reorientation in order to allow sensitive monitoring of the glowing optical and x-ray light following the burst.

   Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

The paper describes a new NASA observatory that was designed to study the bright explosions in the universe—the mysterious gamma-ray bursts.

   How did you become involved in this research, and were there obstacles along the way?

I have been fascinated with space astronomy since my college days. Telescopes flying above the Earth’s atmosphere have vastly expanded our knowledge of the universe. I began working in high energy astrophysics while in graduate school.

It has been my dream, for more than 20 years, to build a space observatory to study the gamma-ray sky. At NASA, we developed instrumentation for such an observatory and then proposed the SWIFT satellite for a program which NASA has for moderate-sized space missions. It was extremely difficult to be selected for flight and took me and my team three tries over five years before finally receiving the funding for SWIFT in 1999.

   Are there any social or political implications for your research?

The study of gamma-ray bursts is leading to an understanding of how and when stars first formed after the Big Bang and how they act to change the evolution of the universe. This is important knowledge for the human realization of how nature works. On a practical level, the gamma-ray sensors on SWIFT were developed in collaboration with researchers using the same sensors as those used for medical imaging applications.

Neil Gehrels, Ph.D.
Chief, Astroparticle Physics Laboratory.
Gamma Ray, Cosmic Ray and Gravitational Wave Astrophysics Branch
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD, USA

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ESI Special Topics, September 2006
Citing URL: http://www.esi-topics.com/fmf/2006/september06-NeilGehrels.html