Observations of Gamma-ray Bursts with ASTRO-H and Fermi

TL;DR

This paper discusses the capabilities of ASTRO-H and Fermi for observing gamma-ray bursts, focusing on spectral analysis, environmental studies, and high-resolution spectroscopy of afterglows.

Contribution

It introduces the potential of ASTRO-H's instruments combined with Fermi data for detailed spectral and environmental analysis of GRBs.

Findings

Enhanced time-resolved spectral analysis possible with ASTRO-H and Fermi.

Potential for high-resolution spectroscopy of GRB afterglows.

Insights into the chemical environment of GRB progenitors.

Abstract

ASTRO-H, the sixth Japanese X-ray observatory, which is scheduled to be launched by the end of Japanese fiscal year 2015 has a capability to observe the prompt emission from Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) utilizing BGO active shields for the soft gamma-ray detector (SGD). The effective area of the SGD shield detectors is very large and its data acquisition system is optimized for short transients such as short GRBs. Thus, we expect to perform more detailed time-resolved spectral analysis with a combination of ASTRO-H and Fermi LAT/GBM to investigate the gamma-ray emission mechanism of short GRBs. In addition, the environment of the GRB progenitor should be a remarkable objective from the point of view of the chemical evolution of high-z universe. If we can maneuver the spacecraft to the GRBs, we can perform a high-resolution spectroscopy of the X-ray afterglow of GRBs utilizing the onboard micro calorimeter and X-ray CCD camera.