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Sommer, Michael

Publications and source records attributed to Sommer, Michael.

Rapid searches for counterparts of GRB 930131

A fading counterpart to a gamma-ray burst (GRB) would appear as a point source inside a GRB error region soon after the burst which dims on a timescale from minutes to days. The favorable circumstances of the burst GRB 930131 allowed for an international campaign to search for fading counterparts starting 6.8 hr after the burst. We report observations from many optical sites, two radio telescopes, and archival ROSAT data, including deep Schmidt exposures 35, 44, and 64 hr after the burst. No fading counterparts were detected with our observations.

Schaefer, Bradley E.↗

Gamma ray burst source locations with the new interplanetary network

The celestial source fields of gamma ray bursts can now be determined with precision considerably greater than that provided by earlier interplanetary networks. A new burst timing array consists of the Ulysses mission and the Pioneer-Venus Orbiter at great distances and the Compton Observatory, Granat, and other burst-observing spacecraft near the Earth. With Ulysses providing a baseline approaching five astronomical units in its progress towards Jupiter, and given the timing resolution of the Compton Burst and Transient Source Experiment, source fields with dimensions as small as several arc seconds by less than one arc minute will be determined for many of the events to be studied within this network.

Cline, T. L.↗

The solar flare and cosmic gamma-ray burst experiment aboard the Ulysses spacecraft

The HUS-Ulysses team has prepared an instrument for the Ulysses spacecraft consisting of 2 Csi detectors and 2 Si surface barrier detectors for measuring x rays in the range 5 to 200 keV with up to 8 ms time resolution. The prime objectives of the experiment are the study of solar flares and cosmic gamma-ray bursts. The Ulysses mission will leave the ecliptic during the forthcoming solar maximum. The total time above ecliptic latitudes + or - 70 degrees is expected to be 230 days. The solar data can be used in conjunction with other experiments to measure the directivity of the emission and for correlative studies.

Boer, Michel↗