About once a day, spacecraft in orbit about the earth and in interplanetary space register a brief and flickering blast of gamma rays from the farthest reaches of the cosmos.   Not much is known about them.  They last from a tenth of second to 1000 seconds.  They show rapid variability, a surprisingly narrow range of gamma-ray frequencies, and a non-thermal spectrum.  From the handful of fading optical glows seen a day or two after the blasts, we know they originate in galaxies 2/3 of the way back in space and time to the beginning of the universe.  For a few seconds, they can pump out more energy than millions of ordinary galaxies!

The HEA workshop brought together 85 amateurs from 23 states and 10 countries to hear about the latest theories, results, instruments, and observing plans of professional astronomers working in high-energy astrophysics.  Most important, we heard about how we amateurs can contribute significantly to professional programs.

For example, with one exception, no professional optical telescope has been able to follow up on a gamma ray burst sooner than 16 hours after the initial burst.  Thanks to our numbers, the internet, PC's, and CCD cameras, there is great interest in having amateurs fill in this data gap, perhaps even making the first optical sightings of  the afterglows of these bursts.

Why is this important?  First, precise positions are needed for the Hubble and Keck telescopes to do their follow up work.  Orbiting gamma and x-ray telescopes simply can not fix the location of the bursts as precisely as an optical detection.  Second, knowing the behavior of these bursts at multiple wavelengths (radio, IR, optical, UV, x-ray, gamma-ray) will help constrain and test various theories.

The details of how this amateur/professional collaboration will take place are still being worked out, but the outline is taking shape.  A critical player will be the launch of the HETE spacecraft this summer.  HETE will be able to locate GRBs to about a 10 or 20 arcminute error box, and it will be able to do that in seconds.  The AAVSO (American

Report on the High-Energy Astrophysics Workshop for Amateurs,

Huntsville, Alabama

13-15 April 2000

Association of Variable Star Observers) will be a "node" in the notification chain, sending out email and pager alerts to interested and capable amateurs in its network.  There are plans to have deep charts with the error box drawn in automatically on the AAVSO web site.

Amateurs on the alert list will be able to set up custom "filters" for the alert notices.  After all, you don't want to get a page at 3 AM about a burst location that can only be seen from Australia!

While GRBs dominated the conference, professionals need help in knowing what AGNs (Active Galactic Nuclei) and cataclysmic variable stars are doing at optical wavelengths.  For example, the Chandra X-Ray telescope will be making observations of the cataclysmic variable star SS Cygni this summer.  The Chandra team would like to know when this star goes into outburst.   The AAVSO has a lot of experience in this kind of amateur-professional collaboration. 

On a personal note, I enjoyed the informal discussions with professionals, fellow amateurs, and science teachers, as well as the field trips to the Marshall Space Flight Center and the cookout and planetarium visit hosted by the Von Braun Astronomical Society.   I am profoundly grateful for the NASA grant I received to attend the workshop.

I'll be giving a more detailed presentation on the HEA workshop at our May meeting.   What a great opportunity we have to participate on the forefront of astronomy!

--Bill Dillon