GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM) Logo GLAST Burst Monitor


A Description of the GLAST Burst Monitor Instrument

GBM Science Science

Recent GCN Circulars from GBM GCN Circulars

People involved with the GBM project Collaborators

Public resources including publications Public Resources

Data Access at the FSSC Fermi Science Support Center Data Access

 

The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope launched on June 11 2008

Launch of GLAST Satellite June 11 2008.

The Gamma-Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is a major NASA mission dedicated to observations of high energy gamma rays. Launched on June 11 2008, its main instrument, the Large Area Telescope (LAT), provides unprecedented sensitivity to gamma rays in the energy range of about 20 MeV to about 300 GeV. The GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM) complements the LAT in its observations of transient sources and is sensitive to X-rays and gamma rays with energies between 8 keV and 40 MeV. The combination of the GBM and the LAT provides a powerful tool for studying gamma-ray bursts, particularly for time-resolved spectral studies over a very large energy band. To follow the progress of GLAST through the early part of its mission, please read the GLAST Blog.

The operation of the GLAST Burst Monitor and analysis of its observational data continues to be a collaborative effort between the National Space Science and Technology Center in the U.S. and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) in Germany. The Principal Investigator is Dr. Charles Meegan at MSFC. Dr. Jochen Greiner at MPE is co-PI.

Access to Fermi GBM data is provided by the Fermi Science Support Center through this portal.

Upcoming events

   

Aug 5 -- 7 2009

The 3rd Coast Astronomical Society announces its 3rd annual meeting to be held at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Nov 2 -- 5 2009

The 2009 Fermi Symposium is dedicated to results and prospects for scientific exploration of the Universe with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and related studies. The symposium will be held shortly after the Fermi data release, offering an opportunity for the astrophysical community to share in the excitement of discoveries being made with the Fermi instruments. Topics will include: blazars and other active galactic nuclei, pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernova remnants, diffuse gamma radiation, unidentified gamma-ray sources, and searches for dark matter. The meeting will be held November 2-5, 2009 in downtown Washington, D.C.

 

 
News

   

08 June 2009

A new transient source was detected by GBM on 05 June 2009. Two short, soft bursts were seen, 21 minutes apart. The first one was also seen by the Konus-RF and Swift-BAT instruments. Details on our Magnetar page

   

Oct 19 -- 24 2008

After an absence of 9 years, the Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium took place in Huntsville, AL from 19--24 October 2008. The website contains information about the program.

August 2008

NASA announced the new name for the GLAST observatory which will now be known as the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. The GLAST Burst Monitor will keep the acronym GBM which will now stand for Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and will adopt the prefix Fermi. Both the GBM and the LAT presented first light images to the press. The Fermi GBM continues to detect gamma-ray bursts and other phenomena. Here is a list of our recent GCN circulars.

June 2008

  GLAST launched from Pad 17B GLAST was launched on June 11. GBM team member and photographer, Michael Briggs, captured the moment from Jetty Park, Cape Canaveral. The US contingent of the GBM team is busy supporting Early Orbit operations at Mission Operations Center (Goddard Space Flight Center) and the entire team is working to implement Ground System operations at the NSSTC and MPE.

 

Older news items available in the GBM News Archive


Links

For information on the GLAST mission, visit the following sites: