# The Fourth BATSE Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog (Revised)

## 1. Introduction

BATSE observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) provided the first clear indication of their extragalactic origin. The angular distribution is isotropic, while the intensity distribution shows fewer weak bursts than would be expected from a homogeneous distribution of sources in Euclidean space (Meegan et al. 1992). No observed Galactic component has these spatial properties. Now that some bursts have been associated with optical counterparts that appear to be extragalactic (van Paradijs et al. 1997; Metzger et al. 1997; Sahu et al. 1998), it is reasonable to conclude that all bursts come from cosmological distances.

The first catalog (1B) of BATSE bursts (Fishman et al. 1994) consisted of 260 bursts, and covered the time interval from 1991 April 19 until 1992 March 5. The second catalog (2B) and third catalog (3B) extended the time interval to 1993 March 9 (585 bursts) and 1994 September 19 (1122 bursts), respectively (Meegan et al. 1994, 1996). We present here the fourth catalog (4Br), which includes 1637 bursts detected from launch through 1996 August 29. The current version (4Br) has been revised from the version first circulated on CD-ROM in September 1997 (4B) and described by Meegan et al. (1998), to include improved locations for a subset of bursts that have been reprocessed using additional data. The summary tables herein include only the revised 3B and post-3B bursts. The full catalog data are available electronically on the World Wide Web at http:$`/`$$`/`$www.batse.msfc.nasa.gov$`/`$batse$`/`$grb$`/`$catalog$`/`$4b$`/`$ or http:$`/`$$`/`$cossc.gsfc.nasa.gov$`/`$cossc$`/`$batse$`/`$4Bcatalog$`/`$4b\_catalog .html.

## 2. Instrumentation

BATSE consists of eight detector modules situated at the corners of the CGRO spacecraft. Each module contains a 50.8 cm diameter by 1.27 cm thick NaI scintillator, sensitive to gamma-rays from $``$25–2000 keV. For details of the experiment, see Fishman et al. (1989). The nominal CGRO orbit altitude is 450 km. During the first few years of the mission, atmospheric drag brought the altitude down to $``$350 km, and in 1994 the spacecraft was re-boosted to the nominal altitude using an on-board propulsion system. In 1997, the altitude was further boosted to $``$550 km in order to keep the spacecraft in orbit through the next solar maximum. A plot of the CGRO altitude versus time is shown in Figure 1.

Bursts are nominally recognized on board as simultaneous statistically significant increases, above pre-set thresholds, in the count rates of two or more detectors in a specified energy range. The rates are tested at 64, 256, and 1024 ms intervals. The background is recomputed every 17.408 s. Prior to 1994 September 19, the trigger energy range was set to the nominal 50–300 keV. Since then, various scientific considerations have caused us to employ several alternative trigger energy ranges, as summarized in Table 1. This results in spectrum-dependent differences in trigger sensitivity, so that the different trigger energy settings should properly be treated as separate burst experiments. Table 2 summarizes the total amount of time in each trigger range and the corresponding number of bursts. Furthermore, the levels of the three thresholds are independently adjustable by command, specified in units of standard deviations $`\sigma `$ above the background rate, and the three trigger time scales have different sensitivities depending on the temporal structure of the bursts, so that each is best thought of as a separate burst experiment. The history of the threshold settings is also included in Table 1.

When a burst trigger occurs, BATSE enters a mode in which high-rate data are accumulated and stored for later transmission. During this data accumulation interval, further burst triggers are disabled. The duration of the interval, set by command, was 241.7 s from launch until 1992 July 4; then 180.2 s until 1992 July 7, then 241.7 s until 1992 Dec 17; then 573.4 s thereafter. At the end of this accumulation interval, a readout interval begins and the accumulated data are transmitted. During the readout interval, burst triggers are enabled, but only on the 64 ms time scale, and the trigger threshold is raised to correspond approximately to the maximum rate of the current burst. A burst that triggers during this time is referred to as an overwrite. When an overwrite occurs, the readout of the remaining data from the overwritten event is suspended. Consequently, some or all of the data from an overwritten trigger may be lost.

On 1992 December 17, flight software revisions were made to compensate for the failed CGRO tape recorders. A new burst data type, DISCLB, was added to enhance the computation of burst locations even if the burst occurred during a real-time data gap. Also, stored commands were initiated to suspend readout of the burst memory during telemetry gaps, which are predictable, and the readout interval for weak bursts was shortened from the standard $``$90 minutes to $``$28 minutes by eliminating some high time resolution data. A new TDRS satellite also significantly reduced the telemetry gaps. In addition, the CGRO flight software was revised on 1993 March 17 to transmit partial BATSE data at a lower telemetry rate using the omnidirectional antenna when TDRS coverage was not available. As a result of these changes, by March of 1993, the data recovery was almost as good as before the tape recorder failures.

## 3. Instrumental Considerations

### 3.1. Trigger Criteria

The most significant difference between the 4Br (and 4B) and the previous BATSE catalogs is that the energy range of the burst trigger was revised several times since the end of the 3B catalog, as summarized in Table 1. The Trigger Criteria Table in the 4Br catalog on-line database provides further details. Normally, all eight BATSE detectors are enabled for burst triggering, and a trigger requires the rates from two or more detectors to be above threshold. However, from 1995 July 20 to 1995 July 24, the requirement was changed to trigger if a single detector exceeded threshold. This was an engineering test to obtain high time resolution data on single detector phosphorescence events. Also, from 1995 December 11–14 only 2 detectors were enabled for burst triggering, and from 1995 December 14–18 only 4 detectors were so enabled. This was done to obtain a larger sample of events from the bursting pulsar GRO J1744$``$28, which was active at that time.

The variations in the trigger criteria as summarized in Table 1 can distort some burst global properties that involve spectral considerations, such as the burst rate, distributions of spectral parameters, and hardness-intensity correlations. For many studies, it may be necessary to use bursts that have a common trigger energy range. On the other hand, inter-comparison of samples obtained with different trigger criteria presents new opportunities for investigating burst properties.

### 3.2. Sky Exposure

The sky exposure is the total observing time as a function of celestial coordinates. In computing sky exposure, we consider Earth blockage and times that the burst trigger is disabled. After a burst trigger, there is a variable time interval during which the burst data are transmitted to the ground. During this time, the trigger thresholds are raised so that only a stronger event can abort the current readout. Early in the mission, the burst memory readout time interval corresponded approximately to one satellite orbit. As described in section 2, flight software changes were implemented subsequent to the tape recorder failures to suspend the memory readout during telemetry gaps and to read out only a portion of the burst memory for weaker bursts.

In the sky exposure calculation, burst readout times are considered dead time, so that bursts that are overwrites should not be included in calculations that use the sky exposure. The sky exposure is thus the total time during which BATSE could have triggered on a burst above the nominal threshold and is a function only of the declination of the burst, with a dipole moment due primarily to disabling the trigger during passages of CGRO through the South Atlantic Anomaly, and a quadrupole moment due to Earth blockage. Any dependence on burst right ascension averages out over sufficiently long periods.

The algorithm used for calculating sky exposure for the 1B catalog depended on continuous data coverage and could not be used for subsequent catalogs due to the data gaps arising from the tape recorder failures. A new algorithm has been developed (Hakkila et al. 1998a) and used to calculate the sky exposure for each of the BATSE catalogs and subsets of catalogs.

There are two major differences between the new algorithm and the previous algorithm. The previous algorithm included only time during which the trigger threshold was at the nominal setting of 5.5$`\sigma `$ in each of the three trigger time scales, while the new algorithm has no such restriction. This change increases the 1B exposure by $``$14%. The new algorithm handles the SAA passages more accurately than the 1B calculation, which overestimated the time spent in the SAA and therefore overestimated the dipole moment of the exposure. Correcting for sky exposure, the full sky burst rate above the BATSE threshold, triggering on 50–300 keV, is $``$666 bursts$`/`$year. Figure 2 shows the exposure vs. declination for the full 4Br catalog as well as for two important data subsets: the times when the trigger energy channels were channels 1+2 (25–100 keV) and 3+4 ($`>`$100 keV).

Table 3 indicates the average exposures, dipole moments, and pertinent quadrupole moments of the sky exposures shown in Figure 2. The exposures have produced similar anisotropies (due primarily to Earth blockage) in all published BATSE burst catalogs.

Table 4 lists the rates of bursts detected above BATSE’s minimum detection threshold for the three most commonly-used trigger criteria, corrected for sky exposure. The burst rates are significantly higher in trigger channels 2+3 than they are in channels 1+2 or 3+4. The high signal-to-noise ratios in channels 1 and 4 suggest that enhanced channel 2+3 rates are not entirely due to instrumental effects; it appears that more observable bursts exist in the 50 to 300 keV energy range (channels 2+3) than at other energies. This is consistent with the finding by Harris & Share (1998) that few extremely hard bursts exist that could not be detected by BATSE. The spectral response of the BATSE detectors will be discussed in more detail in section 3.3.

The exposure-corrected 2+3 burst rate can be compared to the exposure-corrected burst rate obtained by the untriggered burst search (J. Kommers, private communication). These rates indicate a burst distribution that continues to decline in number below the BATSE trigger threshold. There is no time-dependence to the BATSE exposure-corrected gamma-ray burst rate; this has remained roughly constant throughout the CGRO mission.

### 3.3. Trigger Efficiency

The trigger efficiency is the probability that a burst of a given peak flux will exceed the BATSE trigger threshold. Again, the algorithm used for the previous catalogs cannot be used if there are data gaps. Also, the older algorithm did not consider the increase in efficiency due to atmospheric scattering of photons into the detectors, the effect of the range of burst spectral properties, or the effect of non-nominal thresholds. An improved algorithm that overcomes these limitations is currently under development (Pendleton, Hakkila & Meegan 1998). Figure 3a compares results obtained with the old and new algorithms for the probability of exceeding the 1024 ms threshold, in the nominal 50–300 keV trigger energy range and at the nominal level of 5.5$`\sigma `$, as a function of peak flux. For this calculation, all bursts were assumed to have the same spectrum, viz., a typical Band function (Band et al. 1993). The greater efficiency near threshold is due to inclusion of atmospheric scattering in the new calculation. Figure 3b compares the triggering efficiency for three different trigger energy ranges (20–100 keV, 50–300 keV, and $`>`$100 keV), using the same assumed burst spectrum in all cases.

The spectral dependencies (summarized by the $`\alpha `$, $`\beta `$, and $`E_\mathrm{p}`$ parameters of the Band function) appear to strongly influence the trigger efficiency. The $`E_\mathrm{p}`$ parameter is relatively important, as is the low-energy spectral index $`\alpha `$. The efficiency is less sensitive to the high-energy spectral index $`\beta `$. The effects of the dependence on $`E_\mathrm{p}`$ will be demonstrated in section 4.2. As a result of these spectral dependencies, calculation of the trigger efficiency depends on an assumed distribution of spectral shapes, and is therefore model-dependent.

## 4. The Catalog

The 4Br catalog includes the time period of the 3B catalog plus an additional 515 bursts between 1994 September 20 and 1996 August 29. The 4B catalog was initially released in September 1997 on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM (Meegan et al. 1998). A few revised entries for 3B bursts were included in the initial release: revised locations for triggers 741, 2311, and 3155; a corrected date for trigger 1694; revised CMAXMIN entries for triggers 111, 3118, and 3137; and a revised duration for trigger 148. Burst locations were computed using the same algorithm as was used for the 3B catalog. As will be described in section 4.1, the accuracy of the algorithm is improved substantially for certain bursts by fitting to data from 6 detectors rather than 4 detectors. The 4Br catalog is expanded from the September 1997 release by including revised locations for 208 bursts (199 of these were recomputed using the same data type, but fitting to 6 detectors, and the remaining 9 were recomputed using more appropriate choices of data type and$`/`$or time interval).

The 162 revised 3B bursts are listed in Table 5 and the 515 post-3B bursts are listed in Table 6. The columns are the same as were used in the previous catalogs. The first column is the BATSE trigger number. The next column specifies the trigger name in the format 4B yymmdd, where yy is year, mm is month, and dd is day of month. The trigger name may have a letter appended if there is more than one trigger in a day. The next column specifies the time of the trigger expressed as the Truncated Julian Day (TJD) and the seconds of day (s). The next column specifies the trigger time in the format day of year and UT time. The next five columns give the computed locations in equatorial (epoch 2000) and Galactic coordinates and the error in the location. The tabulated error radius represents the radius of a circle that has the same area as the 68% statistical confidence region. The actual 1$`\sigma `$ contours are not necessarily circular. These radii represent errors due to photon counting statistics only; there is also a systematic error (see section 4.1). The next column specifies the largest of the three values of $`C_{\mathrm{max}}/C_{\mathrm{min}}`$, the maximum count rate divided by the threshold count rate. The next two columns specify the threshold number of counts $`C_{\mathrm{min}}`$ and the relevant trigger time scale. Note that the latter is not necessarily the time scale for the trigger, but the time scale for which $`C_{\mathrm{max}}/C_{\mathrm{min}}`$ is the largest. The column labeled $`T_{90}`$ is a measure of the burst duration. It is the time during which the burst integrated counts increases from 5% to 95% of the total counts. The next column specifies the peak flux and error. The energy interval for the peak flux is 50–300 keV (the burst trigger range), and the integration time is 256 ms. The next column specifies the fluence and error in the 50–300 keV energy range. The next column presents the hardness ratio, defined as the ratio of fluence in the 100–300 keV range to the fluence in the 50–100 keV range. The next column specifies the total fluence (above $``$20 keV) and error over the duration of the burst. The last column contains codes for specific comments listed at the end of the table.

The $`V/V_{\mathrm{max}}`$ statistic (Schmidt , Higdon & Hueter 1988) is simply $`(C_{\mathrm{max}}/C_{\mathrm{min}})^{3/2}`$. Table 7 summarizes the average value of $`V/V_{\mathrm{max}}`$ for the 4Br catalog and various subsets. It is clear from the table that none of the subsets are consistent with the value 0.5 that a homogeneous sample would produce.

The numerous missing entries are due to data gaps in one or more of the various data types that BATSE transmits. The various parameters have different requirements on data completeness. $`C_{\mathrm{max}}/C_{\mathrm{min}}`$ is most sensitive to missing data; durations, fluxes, and fluences less so. Since locations can be computed using several different data types and time intervals, they are available for all bursts.

### 4.1. Locations

The 4Br catalog incorporates 211 location changes from the 3B catalog (Meegan et al. 1996), of which 3 had already been made in the 4B catalog. While twelve of the changes were made for miscellaneous reasons, 199 of the changes are due to relocating using the data from six instead of four detectors. When a location obtained using the data of four detectors has a detector with an angle larger than 90, this is an indication that the choice of four detectors is poor, since the geometry ensures that there will be always be four detectors with source angles no greater than 90. We postulated that such cases are due primarily to systematic errors in detector response and atmospheric scattering corrections, so that a better location would be obtained by fitting the data from six detectors. The idea was tested by comparing locations for 39 bursts from the 4Br catalog in this class for which interplanetary network (IPN) annuli are available (Hurley et al. 1998a,b). Two intersecting annuli have been derived for trigger 1121, so that its true location is precisely known. In this case, the six-detector BATSE location is better than the four-detector case by 0.4, versus a statistical error of 0.3. For the remaining 38 events, only single IPN annuli are available, so we can only determine the closest approach angle $`\rho `$ of the annuli to the BATSE locations. Figure 4 summarizes the differences $`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho `$ between the four- and six-detector locations. While not every case shows an improvement, the average change is to a significantly better location.

Tables 5 & 6 list only the statistical location errors $`\sigma _{\mathrm{stat}}`$ as determined by LOCBURST (the BATSE software for determining burst locations) from counting statistics. In addition to $`\sigma _{\mathrm{stat}}`$, the location errors also include a systematic component $`\sigma _{\mathrm{sys}}`$. In the 1B catalog, comparison of the LOCBURST locations with more precise, independently determined, locations for a small number of events indicated that $`\sigma _{\mathrm{sys}}=4^{}`$ (Meegan et al. 1994). After improvements to the LOCBURST algorithm, this was reduced in the 3B catalog to $`\sigma _{\mathrm{sys}}=1.6^{}`$ (Meegan et al. 1996). In the 3B catalog paper, it was noted that the error distribution might not be Gaussian and that some bursts might fall into an extended non-Gaussian tail with higher values of $`\sigma _{\mathrm{sys}}`$. Recently, Briggs et al. (1998) used IPN data for 411 GRBs (Hurley et al. 1998b) of the 4Br catalog to test various models for the BATSE location error distribution and to determine the optimum parameter values of these models. An excellent fit to the data is provided by a model in which the error distribution is a modified Gaussian with an extended tail: 78% of the time the systematic error belongs to the core with a value of 1.85, while the remainder of the probability corresponds to a tail with systematic error of 5.1. A more complex model, in which the systematic error depends on the data type used in LOCBURST to obtain the location, is modestly favored by the data. Further details and instructions for implementing the improved error models are presented by Briggs et al. (1998).

Figure 5 shows the distribution in Galactic coordinates of the locations of the 1637 bursts in the 4Br catalog. The dipole and quadrupole moments of the observed distribution of bursts are listed in Table 8, together with the values expected for an isotropic distribution after correction for sky exposure (Section 3.2). The error bars on the observed burst moments are from the sample statistics; the location errors make a negligible contribution. The error bars on the sky exposure are very rough estimates. After correction for the anisotropic sky exposure, the galactic moments and the coordinate system independent tests (Briggs 1993) are consistent with isotropy. Without correction, the equatorial quadrupole moment differs from zero by more than 3$`\sigma `$; after correction, both equatorial moments are consistent with isotropy.

We place limits on burst repetition by comparing the $`R_{}`$ and $`w`$ clustering statistics to Monte Carlo simulations of the gamma-ray burst sky distribution. The $`R_{}`$ statistic (Tegmark et al. 1996) is a measure of burst separation weighted by the stated burst error and a 1.6 systematic error, while $`w`$ is the two point correlation function averaged over burst separation values of 0 to 5.73. Of these two statistics, $`R_{}`$ produces somewhat stronger limits on burst repetition (Brainerd & Kippen 1998). In the simulations, we generated 10<sup>4</sup> gamma-ray burst sky distributions with the observed distribution of location errors for each model of a specific number of observed repetition sources. The simulations use location error model 2 of Briggs et al. (1998), and they take into account the sky exposure. From the simulations, the expectation values for no repeaters are $`R_{}=0.428\pm 0.007`$ and $`w=0.007\pm 0.018`$, consistent with the 4Br catalog values $`R_{}=0.422`$ and $`w=0.007`$. Upper limits to the repeater fraction depend on the assumed number of repetitions per source (Hakkila et al. 1998b). For models in which repeating sources contribute 2 gamma-ray bursts to the catalog, the repeater fraction limits at the 5% significance level are 8.4% using $`R_{}`$ and 12.9% using $`w`$. At the 1% significance level, the corresponding limits are 17.1% using $`R_{}`$ and 24.2% using $`w`$.

### 4.2. Fluxes and Fluences

Peak fluxes for each of the three trigger time scales are determined as in the previous BATSE catalogs. Peak count rates are converted to units of photons cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup> using detector response matrices that include the effects of varying angles to bursts, detector efficiency, atmospheric scattering, and spectral response. Further details of the method and results are presented by Pendleton et al. (1996).

Peak flux is here defined as the maximum flux in photons cm<sup>-2</sup> s<sup>-1</sup>, integrated over 50–300 keV in energy, and integrated over 64 ms, 256 ms, or 1024 ms. Specifying the peak flux in the trigger energy range provides an intensity measurement for which instrument sensitivity can be more directly calculated.

The anisotropic response of the detectors implies that location inaccuracies produce systematic errors in determining peak flux and fluence. However, the effect is negligible compared to other systematic errors because the energy dependence of the detector response changes rather slowly with the angle of incidence, and because the use of multiple detectors tends to average out the angle dependence. The peak flux and fluence measurements presented here were derived using the original 4B locations. We verified that use of the 4Br locations would have a negligible effect by re-computing flux$`/`$fluence values for 10 bursts with the largest differences between 4Br and 4B locations. We find that the flux and fluence values are changed by less than 10% as a result of the location differences. This is substantially smaller than systematic errors due to energy calibration errors, assumed spectral forms, and detector response uncertainties, which are estimated to be $``$20%. Figures 6a-6c show the cumulative distributions of peak flux calculated on the 64 ms, 256 ms, and 1024 ms trigger time scales, respectively, for bursts observed when the trigger energy range was set to the nominal 50–300 keV range. Near trigger threshold each of these distributions diverges into three distinct branches, illustrating how the instrument trigger threshold influences the measurement of the GRB population intensity distribution near threshold. Our continuing studies of BATSE’s burst sensitivity using the enhanced sky map algorithm (Hakkila et al. 1998a; Pendleton, Hakkila & Meegan 1998) combined with fits of Band’s spectral function (Band et al. 1993) to a large population of bursts (Mallozzi et al. 1995) have shown that BATSE’s sensitivity to bursts is strongly dependent on the burst spectrum<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1Specifically on $`E_\mathrm{p}`$, the energy for which $`\nu F_\nu `$ is a maximum., and that no single spectrum produces a well-behaved instrument sensitivity correction near threshold. To illustrate this, we calculated the BATSE sensitivity for several representative spectra using spectral parameters derived from fits of the Band function to actual burst data. These are indicative of the range of sensitivity corrections, but are not meant to be definitive, as a full exploration of spectral parameter space is beyond the scope of the present paper.

In Figure 6a, the highest curve shows the peak flux distribution using a burst sensitivity correction calculated for a single Band function fit to a burst with $`E_\mathrm{p}=267`$ keV. For this spectral shape, BATSE’s sensitivity is relatively poor for bursts with peak flux just above threshold. Conversely, the lowest curve in Figure 6a shows the effect of the sensitivity calculated using a spectrum with $`E_\mathrm{p}=1391`$ keV, for which essentially no correction to the observed data is required.

All the sensitivity corrections calculated with individual spectra produced corrections to the burst intensity distribution that are relatively smooth and span a small interval in intensity. If we define a peak flux $`P_0`$ above which the sensitivity correction is negligible, then $`P_0`$ and $`E_\mathrm{p}`$ are anti-correlated. Since we know that bursts exhibit a fairly broad range of $`E_\mathrm{p}`$ for all intensities studied to date (Mallozzi et al. 1995), it is reasonable to assume that a more accurate corrected burst intensity distribution will be obtained when a distribution of burst spectra are used in the sensitivity calculation. The thin line in Figure 6a shows the distribution corrected using five spectra in the sensitivity calculation with different $`E_\mathrm{p}`$ values distributed over the range observed by BATSE in the entire burst population. This correction more accurately characterizes the threshold effects than a correction obtained using a single spectrum. It is important to emphasize, however, that inferences concerning the “true” burst population statistics for weaker bursts are quite dependent on the assumed spectral parameters. More detailed studies are required to quantify these effects more accurately.

The dependence of the instrument sensitivity on the burst spectrum is further illustrated by the intensity distribution of bursts detected when the trigger energy range is different from the nominal. Figure 7a shows the intensity distribution for trigger energy 25–100 keV; near threshold, the lowest curve shows the uncorrected data, and the highest curve results from the assumption that all bursts have a spectrum with $`E_\mathrm{p}=267`$ keV. The second-lowest curve results from assuming that all burst spectra have $`E_\mathrm{p}=50`$ keV. The second-highest curve is the result of combining several burst spectra with $`E_\mathrm{p}50`$ keV, and it produces an intensity distribution with an abrupt change in slope near threshold. Further modeling is necessary in this case. Figure 7b shows the intensity distribution for the trigger energy range $`>`$ 100 keV. Again, the lowest curve shows the uncorrected data. The highest curve assumes an input spectrum with $`E_\mathrm{p}=147`$ keV. Assumption of an input spectrum with $`E_\mathrm{p}=1391`$ keV results in a negligible correction. In contrast to Figure 7a, the intermediate curve, which is an average of several spectra, appears to produce a reasonably smooth correction.

In summary, the burst intensity distributions collected in the three different trigger energy ranges each measure a different component of the burst spectral distribution near threshold, and deconvolution of the threshold effects is necessarily model dependent.

### 4.3. Durations

As with the previous catalogs, we use $`T_{50}`$ and $`T_{90}`$ as measures of burst duration. $`T_{50}`$ is the time interval in which the integrated counts from the burst increases from 25% to 75% of the total counts; $`T_{90}`$ is similarly defined. Figure 8 shows the $`T_{50}`$ and $`T_{90}`$ distributions for all bursts of the 4Br catalog, and separately for three different trigger energy ranges. The well-known bimodality (Kouveliotou et al. 1993) is clearly evident in the overall data and the 50–300 keV data. The distributions for the lower and higher trigger energy ranges are consistent, within their limited statistical accuracy, with the 50–300 keV distribution.

## 5. Summary

The 4Br catalog includes 1637 cosmic gamma-ray bursts detected by BATSE during more than five years of operation. After processing with the most up-to-date location algorithm, the sky distribution of the bursts remains highly isotropic. Samples of bursts obtained with trigger energy ranges different from the BATSE nominal (50–300 keV) are, within the limited statistics, also isotropic and inhomogeneous, and have similar duration distributions.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the BATSE Operations Team in processing the 4Br catalog data, and the assistance of B. Schuft, P. Welti, X. Chen, M. Ivanushkina, and L. Raschke in producing the trigger efficiencies. Support for UAH & USRA personnel was provided through cooperative agreement NCC 8-65. JH was supported through grant NAG 5-3591. JPL was supported through cooperative agreement NCC 8-82. Additional support for summer students was provided through the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program at UAH.     Duration distributions ($`T_{50}`$) for bursts in the 4Br catalog that do not have significant data gaps and that are above the 64 ms trigger threshold. The latter selection reduces the effect of an instrumental cutoff of short bursts. a) all bursts, b) trigger energy range 25–100 keV, c) trigger energy range 50–300 keV, d) trigger energy range $`>`$ 100 keV.