A compact instrument for gamma-ray burst detection on a CubeSat platform I: Design drivers and expected performance

Abstract

The Educational Irish Research Satellite 1 (EIRSAT-1) is a 2U CubeSat being developed under ESA's Fly Your Satellite! programme. The project has many aspects, which are primarily educational, but also include space qualification of new detector technologies for gamma-ray astronomy and the detection of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The Gamma-ray Module (GMOD), the main mission payload, is a small gamma-ray spectrometer comprising a 25 mm $\times$ 25 mm $\times$ 40 mm cerium bromide scintillator coupled to an array of 16 silicon photomultipliers. The readout is provided by IDE3380 (SIPHRA), a low-power and radiation tolerant readout ASIC. GMOD will detect gamma-rays and measure their energies in a range from tens of keV to a few MeV. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the Medium Energy Gamma-ray Astronomy Library to evaluate GMOD's capability for the detection of GRBs in low Earth orbit. The simulations used a detailed mass model of the full spacecraft derived from a very high-fidelity 3D CAD model. The sky-average effective area of GMOD on board EIRSAT-1 was found to be 10 cm${}^2$ at 120 keV. The instrument is expected to detect between 11 and 14 GRBs, at a significance greater than 10$\sigma$ (and up to 32 at 5$\sigma$), during a nominal one-year mission. The shape of the scintillator in GMOD results in omni-directional sensitivity which allows for a nearly all-sky field of view.

arXiv comment27 pages, 13 figures. This is an author accepted manuscript of an article published in Experimental Astronomy. The final open-access version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-021-09779-9

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