---
title: UMD Astronomer Helps NASA Launch Tiny Satellite to Study Powerful Cosmic Explosions
date: 2024-03-27T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/umd-astronomer-helps-nasa-launch-tiny-satellite-to-study-powerful-cosmic-explosions"
section: Articles
---
# UMD Astronomer Helps NASA Launch Tiny Satellite to Study Powerful Cosmic Explosions

*March 27, 2024* — by [Maryland Today Staff](/author/maryland-today-staff)


> BurstCube to Detect Gamma-Ray Bursts Given Off After Neutron Star Collisions

*Burst Cube Satellite in Orbit scaled 1920x1080 — BurstCube, shown in an artist’s concept, will orbit Earth as it hunts for short gamma-ray bursts.*

A University of Maryland astronomer is part of a team that designed a shoebox-sized satellite to study the universe’s most powerful explosions.

The device, called BurstCube, was sent Thursday with a SpaceX resupply mission to the International Space Station (currently manned in part by [a UMD alum](https://today.umd.edu/alum-astronaut-reports-from-space-station-im-still-in-awe)). From there, it will be released into orbit to detect, locate and examine short gamma-ray bursts—brief flashes of high-energy light.

These usually occur after the collisions of neutron stars, the superdense remnants of massive stars that exploded in supernovas. The neutron stars can also emit gravitational waves, ripples in the fabric of space-time, as they spiral together.

“BurstCube’s detectors are angled to allow us to detect and localize events over a wide area of the sky,” said Israel Martinez Castellanos, UMD visiting assistant research scientist and BurstCube team member. “Our current gamma-ray missions can only see about 70% of the sky at any moment because Earth blocks their view. Increasing our coverage with satellites like BurstCube improves the odds we’ll catch more bursts coincident with gravitational wave detections.”


*wiring inside BurstCube — The four circular detectors, tucked among the interior components of the BurstCube satellite, make up the mission’s gamma-ray detector. (Photo by NASA/Jeanette Kazmierczak)*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Astronomy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/astronomy), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-computer-mathematical-and-natural-sciences)