Christian Malacaria, NASA-MSFC/USRA — 23.11.2020
The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is the softer-energy all-sky monitoring instrument aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope.
The excellent combination of timing, spectral and full-sky coverage capabilities of GBM make it a unique instrument for the study of transient sources.
Over 10 years of operation, GBM helped to study a pletora of astrophysical phenomena,
from Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs), to Terrestrial Gamma-ray Flashes (TGFs), to accreting X-ray Pulsars (XRPs),
to finish with Gravitational Wave counterparts, of which GBM observed the only GRB unambiguously associated
with merging neutron stars, GRB 170817A, thus opening the era of multi-messenger astronomy.
Moreover, decade-long observations by GBM played a fundamental role in
monitoring spin histories, outbursts and torque behaviors of transient and persistent XRPs.
More recently, GBM also played a fundamental role in discovering and characterizing the first Galactic Ultra-Luminous X-ray Pulsar, Swift J0243.6+6124.
In this talk we will glance at some of the main GBM achievements, with a focus on the
GBM Accreting Pulsars Program (GAPP) and its exclusive scientific return in the field of XRPs.
