Presentation #103.21 in the session Missions and Instruments.
The StarBurst Multimessenger Pioneer is a highly sensitive wide-field gamma-ray monitor designed to detect the prompt emission of short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs), a key electromagnetic (EM) signature of neutron star (NS) mergers. StarBurst is designed to enhance the new era of multimessenger astronomy by using the advancements in gamma-ray detectors made over the past decade, namely in silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) for light read out. With over 500% the effective area of the Fermi GBM and full coverage of the unocculted sky, the StarBurst observations of EM counterparts to NS mergers make it a key partner to the gravitational wave (GW) network in discovering NS mergers at a fraction of the cost of currently operating gamma-ray missions. The StarBurst sensor head consists of 12 thallium-doped sodium iodide (NaI:Tl) scintillation detectors, each of which uses an array of custom, low-mass, low-voltage SiPMs to cover an energy range 30 keV – 2000 keV. We will present on the design of the StarBurst Sensor Head - comprised of the individual crystal detector units (CDUs) - the instrument mechanical design, the data acquisition, as well as initial performance results of test units.
This work is supported by the NASA Astrophysics Pioneers.