GAMMA-RAY OBSERVATIONS WITH THE TRANSIENT GAMMA-RAY SPECTROMETER (TGRS)

The Transient Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (TGRS), a high-resolution germani um detector, was launched aboard the WIND satellite on November 1, 199 4. After similar to 2 years and several deep space orbits the spacecra ft will eventually be injected into a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L(1) point. Although TGRS is primarily designed to perform high resolu tion spectroscopy of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and solar flares, it equa lly well lends itself to the study of transient X-ray sources and, usi ng an on-board passive occulter, the long-term monitoring of steady so urces such as the Crab and the Galactic Center. Since launch, TGRS has been working exceedingly well and has proven to be very stable in its performance. TGRS has been detecting on the average similar to 5 GRBs per month and to date has observed three solar flares. Preliminary an alysis of our data also indicates that TGRS is indeed sensitive to sou rces such as the X-ray transient GRO J1655-40, the Crab, and the Galac tic Center.