Astrophysics

HETE 2

126 tracked publications and 10,983 citations from 2002–2024. High Energy Transient Explorer 2. Launched 2000. Life-cycle cost: $158M in 2025 dollars. Active Mission Window March 1, 2001 to April 1, 2010: 110 publications, 15 top-10% credit.

Survey Observatory · h-index 45 · 23 papers with 100+ citations · prime mission ended 2002

Lifetime

Scope Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the prime mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Every tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. Methods

Key measures

Active Mission Window · papers March 1, 2001 to April 1, 2010
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods110
CitationsCitations received by the tracked publications in the selected scope. The two windowed scopes count each paper’s citations only within its citation window. Methods3,600
Mean citations per publicationMean citations: total citations divided by tracked publications in the selected scope. One blockbuster paper can lift it. Methods33
Median citations per publicationMedian citations: the middle paper’s citation count in the selected scope; half the papers have more, half fewer. A single blockbuster sways it less than the mean. Methods14
Uncited publicationsUncited publications: papers with no citations in the selected scope. Methods14 (13%)
Top-10% creditTop 10%: among the 10% most-cited papers from this division’s missions, ranked against papers published around the same time. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods15 · 0.30% of division
Top-1% creditTop 1%: among the 1% most-cited papers from this division’s missions within the selected window. Not adjusted for publication year. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods4 · 0.80% of division
Lifetime indices · every tracked publication to date, in any scope
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods45
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods104
m-index, as of October 4, 2026m-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes, so it belongs to the date shown; it also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods1.8
toritori (total research impact, from ADS): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Methods71
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Methods366

Tracked publications

  1. The physics of gamma-ray bursts

    Piran, Tsvi, 2004, RvMP

    1,800 citations

  2. A very energetic supernova associated with the γ-ray burst of 29 March 2003

    Hjorth, Jens, 2003, Natur

    1,382 citations

  3. Spectroscopic Discovery of the Supernova 2003dh Associated with GRB 030329

    Stanek, K. Z., 2003, ApJ

    1,183 citations

  4. The afterglow of GRB 050709 and the nature of the short-hard γ-ray bursts

    Fox, D. B., 2005, Natur

    495 citations

  5. Short Gamma-Ray Bursts with Extended Emission

    Norris, J. P., 2006, ApJ

    476 citations

  6. A Study of Compact Object Mergers as Short Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitors

    Belczynski, Krzysztof, 2006, ApJ

    299 citations

  7. The optical afterglow of the short γ-ray burst GRB 050709

    Hjorth, Jens, 2005, Natur

    282 citations

  8. The First Survey of X-Ray Flares from Gamma-Ray Bursts Observed by Swift: Temporal Properties and Morphology

    Chincarini, G., 2007, ApJ

    279 citations

  9. Global Characteristics of X-Ray Flashes and X-Ray-Rich Gamma-Ray Bursts Observed by HETE-2

    Sakamoto, T., 2005, ApJ

    242 citations

  10. The Second Swift Burst Alert Telescope Gamma-Ray Burst Catalog

    Sakamoto, T., 2011, ApJS

    236 citations

  11. Discovery of the short γ-ray burst GRB 050709

    Villasenor, J. S., 2005, Natur

    233 citations

  12. A Unified Jet Model of X-Ray Flashes, X-Ray-rich Gamma-Ray Bursts, and Gamma-Ray Bursts. I. Power-Law-shaped Universal and Top-Hat-shaped Variable Opening Angle Jet Models

    Lamb, D. Q., 2005, ApJ

    151 citations

  13. Spectral analysis of 35 GRBs/XRFs observed with HETE-2/FREGATE

    Barraud, C., 2003, A&A

    144 citations

  14. A Redshift Determination for XRF 020903: First Spectroscopic Observations of an X-Ray Flash

    Soderberg, A. M., 2004, ApJ

    136 citations

  15. The redshift distribution of Swift gamma-ray bursts: evidence for evolution

    Daigne, Frédéric, 2006, MNRAS

    135 citations

  16. The BATSE-Swift luminosity and redshift distributions of short-duration GRBs

    Guetta, D., 2006, A&A

    134 citations

  17. The First Swift Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope GRB Afterglow Catalog

    Roming, P. W. A., 2009, ApJ

    129 citations

  18. Comparison of the Gamma-Ray Burst Sensitivity of Different Detectors

    Band, David L., 2003, ApJ

    123 citations

  19. High Energy Transient Explorer 2 Observations of the Extremely Soft X-Ray Flash XRF 020903

    Sakamoto, T., 2004, ApJ

    123 citations

  20. Afterglows, Redshifts, and Properties of Swift Gamma-Ray Bursts

    Berger, E., 2005, ApJ

    118 citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS) for peer-reviewed articles naming HETE 2 in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces. SciX is ADS’s current interface.

((abs:"HETE-2" OR abs:"HETE-II" OR =abs:"High Energy Transient Explorer 2" OR =abs:"High Energy Transient Explorer II" OR (abs:HETE AND abs:("gamma-ray burst" OR "gamma-ray bursts" OR GRB OR GRBs OR "X-ray flash" OR "X-ray flashes" OR XRF OR XRFs OR WXM OR FREGATE OR SXC OR "soft gamma repeater" OR SGR) NOT abs:"J1900.1-2455")) AND collection:astronomy) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[2001-03 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "AIASJ" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NewSc" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Added after review (7)

  1. Spectroscopic Discovery of the Supernova 2003dh Associated with GRB 030329 Discovery of the supernova in the afterglow of GRB 030329, a burst localized by HETE-2. Decision 🤖
  2. A very energetic supernova associated with the γ-ray burst of 29 March 2003 Supernova linked to GRB 030329, a burst detected and localized by HETE-2. Decision 🤖
  3. A Redshift Determination for XRF 020903: First Spectroscopic Observations of an X-Ray Flash First redshift for an X-ray flash, XRF 020903, discovered by HETE-2. Decision 🤖
  4. The afterglow of GRB 050709 and the nature of the short-hard γ-ray bursts X-ray afterglow of the short burst GRB 050709, localized by HETE-2. Decision 🤖
  5. Discovery of the short γ-ray burst GRB 050709 HETE-2 discovery and localization of the short burst GRB 050709. Decision 🤖
  6. The optical afterglow of the short γ-ray burst GRB 050709 Optical afterglow of the short burst GRB 050709, localized by HETE-2. Decision 🤖
  7. Prompt and Afterglow Emission Properties of Gamma-Ray Bursts with Spectroscopically Identified Supernovae Analysis of supernova-linked bursts that uses HETE-2 data for GRB 030329. Decision 🤖

Removed after review (20)

  1. Limits on the early afterglow phase of gamma-ray burst sources from TAROT-1 Ground telescope limits on earlier bursts; mentions HETE-2 only as a future alert source. Decision 🤖
  2. Hyper- and Suspended-Accretion States of Rotating Black Holes and the Durations of Gamma-Ray Bursts Burst theory paper; mentions HETE-2 only as a possible future test. Decision 🤖
  3. Gamma-ray bursts: LIGO//VIRGO sources of gravitational radiation Burst theory review; mentions HETE-2 only in a prediction for future observations. Decision 🤖
  4. Interpreting the Behavior of Time-resolved Gamma-Ray Burst Spectra Burst spectral modelling of earlier data; mentions HETE-2 only as a future prospect. Decision 🤖
  5. Study of Gamma-Ray Burst Binary Progenitors Burst progenitor population study; mentions HETE-2 only as a future prospect. Decision 🤖
  6. Present and future instrumentation for high-energy astrophysics in Italy Survey of Italian high-energy instruments; lists HETE-2 among missions and reports no results. Decision 🤖
  7. Gamma-Ray Burst Dust Echoes Revisited: Expectations at Early Times Burst dust-echo theory; mentions HETE-2 only as a source of future localizations. Decision 🤖
  8. The Liverpool Telescope automatic pipeline for real-time GRB afterglow detection Describes a ground telescope's burst pipeline; reports no results. Decision 🤖
  9. The search for optical emission on and before the GRB trigger with the WIDGET telescope Describes a ground camera that watches HETE-2's field; reports no detections. Decision 🤖
  10. Performance of GRB monitor with Astro-E2 Hard X-ray Detector (HXD-II) Describes another satellite's burst detector; mentions HETE-2 only for comparison. Decision 🤖
  11. 2007A&A...464.1069F Studies a star named after HETE-2's discovery; uses no HETE-2 data. Decision 🤖
  12. 2007ApJ...669L..29G RXTE pulsar study; HETE appears only in a comparison star's name. Decision 🤖
  13. Euro-Asian Collaboration for Gamma-Ray Burst Optical Observations Describes a ground observing collaboration; mentions HETE-2 only as a future alert source. Decision 🤖
  14. 2008ApJ...674L..45A RXTE pulsar study; HETE appears only in a comparison star's name. Decision 🤖
  15. Compact Object Modeling with the StarTrack Population Synthesis Code Stellar population code paper; lists HETE-2 only among observatories it could serve. Decision 🤖
  16. 2009ApJ...698L.174W Studies a star named after HETE-2's discovery; uses no HETE-2 data. Decision 🤖
  17. 2017MNRAS.464L...6K Studies a star named after HETE-2's discovery; uses no HETE-2 data. Decision 🤖
  18. 2018MNRAS.477...67S Studies a star named after HETE-2's discovery; uses no HETE-2 data. Decision 🤖
  19. Constraining the properties of dense neutron star cores: the case of the low-mass X-ray binary HETE J1900.1-2455 Studies a star named after HETE-2's discovery; uses no HETE-2 data. Decision 🤖
  20. 2026A&A...710A.169S Neutron star atmosphere models; HETE appears only in a star's name. Decision 🤖