Observing GRBs with the LOFT Wide Field Monitor

S. Brandt; M. Hernanz; M. Feroci; L. Amati; P. Azzarello; D. Barret; E. Bozzo; C. Budtz-Jørgensen; R. Campana; A. Castro-Tirado; A. Cros; E. Del Monte; I. Donnarumma; Y. Evangelista; J.L. Galvez Sanchez; D. Götz; F. Hansen; J.W. den Herder; A. Hornstrup; R. Hudec; D. Karelin; M. van der Klis; S. Korpela; I. Kuvvetli; N. Lund; P. Orleanski; M. Pohl; A. Rachevski; A. Santangelo; S. Schanne; C. Schmid; L. Stella; S. Suchy; C. Tenzer; A. Vacchi; J. Wilms; N. Zampa; J.J.M. in’t Zand; A. Zdziarski

doi:10.1051/eas/1361098

All issues

Volume 61 (2013)

EAS Publications Series, 61 (2013) 617-623

Abstract

Issue		EAS Publications Series Volume 61, 2013 Gamma-ray Bursts: 15 Years of GRB Afterglows – Progenitors, Environments and Host Galaxies from the Nearby to the Early Universe


Page(s)		617 - 623
Section		Chapter XIII: Instrumentation & Techniques-III Future Projects
DOI		https://doi.org/10.1051/eas/1361098
Published online		22 July 2013

Gamma-ray Bursts: 15 Years of GRB Afterglows
A.J. Castro-Tirado, J.Gorosabel and I.H. Park (eds)
EAS Publications Series, 61 (2013) 617-623

Observing GRBs with the LOFT Wide Field Monitor

S. Brandt¹, M. Hernanz², M. Feroci³^,4, L. Amati⁵, Alvarez², P. Azzarello⁶, D. Barret⁷, E. Bozzo⁶, C. Budtz-Jørgensen¹, R. Campana³^,4, A. Castro-Tirado⁸, A. Cros⁷, E. Del Monte³^,4, I. Donnarumma³, Y. Evangelista³^,4, J.L. Galvez Sanchez², D. Götz⁹, F. Hansen¹, J.W. den Herder¹⁰, A. Hornstrup¹, R. Hudec¹¹^,12, D. Karelin², M. van der Klis¹³, S. Korpela¹⁴, I. Kuvvetli¹, N. Lund¹, P. Orleanski¹⁵, M. Pohl¹⁶, A. Rachevski¹⁷, A. Santangelo¹⁸, S. Schanne⁹, C. Schmid¹⁹, L. Stella²⁰, S. Suchy¹⁸, C. Tenzer¹⁸, A. Vacchi¹⁷, J. Wilms¹⁹, N. Zampa¹⁷, J.J.M. in’t Zand¹⁰ and A. Zdziarski²¹

¹ National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Elektrovej Bld 327, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark
² IEEC-CSIC-UPC-UB, Carrer del Gran Capità, 2, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
³ IAPS-INAF, via del Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Rome, Italy
⁴ INFN, Sez. Roma Tor Vergata, via della Ricerca Scientifica 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
⁵ INAF-IASF-Bologna, via P. Gobetti, 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy
⁶ ISDC, Geneve University, Chemin d’Ecogia 16, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
⁷ IRAP, avenue du Colonel Roche, 9, BP. 44346, Toulouse, France
⁸ Instituto Astrofisica de Andalucia, Glorieta de la Astronomía, s/n., 18008 Granada, Spain
⁹ CEA Saclay, DSM/IRFU/SAp, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
¹⁰ SRON, Sorbonnelaan 2, 3584 CA Utrecht, The Netherlands
¹¹ Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Fricova 298, 251 65 Ondrejov, Czech Republic
¹² Czech Technical University in Prague, Zikova 1903/4, 166 36 Praha 6, Czech Republic
¹³ Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
¹⁴ Department of Physics, Division of Geophysics and Astronomy, PO Box 48, 00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
¹⁵ Space Research Centre, Warsaw, Bartycka 18A, Warszawa, Poland
¹⁶ DPNC, Geneve University, Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland
¹⁷ INFN, Trieste, via A. Valerio 2, 34127 Trieste, Italy
¹⁸ IAAT University of Tuebingen, Sand 1, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
¹⁹ University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Schlossplatz 4, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
²⁰ INAF-OA Roma, via Frascati, 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy
²¹ Copernicus Astronomical Center, Bartycka 18, Warsaw, Poland

Abstract

LOFT (Large Observatory For X-ray Timing) is one of the four candidate missions currently under assessment study for the M3 mission in ESAs Cosmic Vision program to be launched in 2024. LOFT will carry two instruments with prime sensitivity in the 2–30 keV range: a 10 m² class large area detector (LAD) with a <1° collimated field of view and a wide field monitor (WFM) instrument. The WFM is based on the coded mask principle, and 5 camera units will provide coverage of more than 1/3 of the sky. The prime goal of the WFM is to detect transient sources to be observed by the LAD. With its wide field of view and good energy resolution of <500 eV, the WFM will be an excellent instrument for detecting and studying GRBs and X-ray flashes. The WFM will be able to detect ~150 gamma ray bursts per year, and a burst alert system will enable the distribution of ~100 GRB positions per year with a ~1 arcmin location accuracy within 30 s of the burst.