Hard X-ray emission from Starburst Galaxies with the NuSTAR Mission

Launched in mid-2012, NuSTAR is the first focusing hard X-ray (E\textgreater 10 keV) astronomical observatory. Hard X-ray emission from star-forming galaxies arises from a population of neutron stars and stellar-mass black holes, however few starburst galaxies have been detected above 10 keV. Here we present an overview of a program to survey six normal/starburst galaxies at hard X-ray energies. As of early 2013, only the NuSTAR-Chandra-VLBA multiwavelength campaign on NGC 253 has been performed, consisting of three observational periods. The monitoring was designed to (1) sensitively isolate the locations of X-ray binaries, (2) determine the nature of the accreting compact objects via their 0.5-30 keV spectral properties, and (3) identify interesting flaring X-ray/radio sources as they make spectral state transitions due to variability in their accretion. We will also discuss upcoming observations of the rest of the sample.