Astronomers said a fond farewell to NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory earlier this month. Together, the two instruments will observe gamma rays with the lowest energies to those with the highest energies. In 10 seconds, a gamma-ray burst can discharge thousands of times more energy than our Sun will ever give off in its entire lifetime. Scientists have had trouble figuring out just what could cause such violent blasts coming from all parts of the universe. Meegan, who enjoys working all types of puzzles, is eager to lead a team to build an instrument capable of solving the mystery surrounding gamma-ray bursts.
Many questions remain for the team to investigate.
Then, computers will use this information to automatically point the Large Area Telescope toward the burst. Scientists don't know. If bursts have done any thing, they have made scientists humble. To design the best instrument, Meegan has assembled a team that includes scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, who are collaborating with NASA through an agreement with the German Space Agency. Scientists from the Marshall Center and the University of Alabama in Huntsville will provide the flight electronics and software for the instrument.