Transient Astronomy: The Technology and the Techniques
Investigating a Population of Infrared-Bright Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies
Date Submitted
2017-04-20 16:01:08
Ashley Chrimes
Dr Elizabeth Stanway (The University of Warwick)
The University of Warwick
Gamma-Ray bursts (GRBs) are observed to occur in galaxies spanning a range of masses, star formation rates, dust content and metallicity. Long GRBs (LGRBs) trace star formation, due to the short lives of their massive progenitors. However, while ~half of the star formation at z ~1- 2 occurs in massive, dusty galaxies, LGRBs appear to exhibit a preference for low mass, low metallicity hosts. A sample of infrared-bright GRB host candidates have been identified, cross-matching GRB X-ray afterglow positions with the WISE all-sky infrared survey. This matching shows a significant excess above that expected from chance alignments. Given the shallow depth of WISE, this suggests a number of the hosts may be local and/or dusty. Either option is of interest. Massive, dusty galaxies are thought to be likely hosts of dark GRBs, while few local GRB hosts are known (3 at z less than 0.1). The nature of this population is explored through SED fitting and spectroscopy of the host galaxies, and will help to constrain the environments in which LGRBs can occur.
Schedule
id
Monday
date time
13:30 - 15:00
14:00
Abstract
Investigating a Population of Infrared-Bright Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxies