Swift XRT Observations of X-ray Flares in GRB Afterglows
Astrophysics
2007-05-23 v2
Abstract
The Swift XRT has been observing GRB afterglows since December 23, 2004. Three-quarters of these observations begin within 300 s of the burst onset, providing an unprecendented look at the behavior of X-ray emission from GRB afterglows in the first few hours after the burst. While most of the early afterglows have smoothly declining lightcurves, a substantial fraction has large X-ray flares on short time-scales. We suggest that these flares provide support for models with extended central engine activity producing late-time internal shocks.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0511039,
title = {Swift XRT Observations of X-ray Flares in GRB Afterglows},
author = {David N. Burrows and P. Romano and O. Godet and A. Falcone and C. Pagani and G. Cusumano and S. Campana and G. Chincarini and J. E. Hill and P. Giommi and M. R. Goad and J. A. Kennea and S. Kobayashi and P. Meszaros and J. A. Nousek and J. P. Osborne and P. T. O'Brien and K. L. Page and G. Tagliaferri and B. Zhang and the Swift XRT team},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0511039},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
7 pages, 12 figures, X-Ray Universe 2005 conference proceedings