ANALYSIS OF COMPTEL GAMMA-RAY BURST LOCATIONS AND SPECTRA

In its first three years of operation, the COMPTEL instrument on the C ompton Gamma-Ray Observatory has measured the locations (mean accuracy similar to 1 degrees) and spectra (0.75-30 MeV) of 18 gamma-ray burst s and continues to observe new events at a rate of similar to 1/month. With good angular resolution and sensitivity at MeV energies, the gro wing COMPTEL burst catalog is an important new piece of evidence in th e on-going GRB mystery. The COMPTEL burst locations are consistent wit h an isotropic distribution of sources, yet the spatial coincidence of two of the bursts indicates the possibility of repetition. The COMPTE L burst spectra are in most cases consistent with a single power law m odel with spectral index in the range 2-3. However, two bursts show ev idence of a spectral break in the MeV range. Measurement of rapid vari ability at MeV energies in the stronger bursts provides evidence that either the sources are nearby (within the Galaxy) or the gamma-ray emi ssion is relativistically beamed. We present an overview of analysis r esults obtained from the COMPTEL burst catalog concentrating on the se arch for burst repetition and the implications of highly variable MeV emission.