GCN is planning some massive changes

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Thu, 09/08/2022 - 18:59

GCN, the network that brodcasts real-time information on newly identified Gamma Ray Bursts and other transients, is planning massive changes to it's technology.

Here is a presentation on it:

https://nasa-gcn.github.io/gcn-presentation/

 

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
Thanks HB,

We will have to…

Thanks HB,

We will have to keep track of this so we can update the HEN website, particularly the time domain stuff.

Dave

Affiliation
American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
GCN updates and web event

GCN released a new version of their presentation outlining their transition to new technology, you can find it here, as before:

https://nasa-gcn.github.io/gcn-presentation/

 

As far as I can see, there are major updates described beginning on slide # 35 (note the slide page numbers don't match the numbers in the URL), you can fast-forward to that page ==> https://nasa-gcn.github.io/gcn-presentation/#/31

 

This describes changes to the GCN circulars, which are meant for human consumption (while GCN "notices" are more geared towards machines (as in rototic telescopes and event brokers).

So it really looks like GCN will switch to a system where basically any registered user can post a GCN circular provided he or she is endorsed by an already trusted user, this builing a "web of trust". This is a very cool development that might be useful for advanced amateurs working in the field of observation covered by GCN, so especially optical follow-up observations of Gamma Ray events, neutrino events (think SNEWS!) or gravitational wave events.

Note the webinar schedule here https://nasa-gcn.github.io/gcn-presentation/#/34 . There will be three webinars, targeted at different timezones, on April 18th and 19th 2023 to explain the transition in detail.

CS
HB