Related papers: Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows: theory and observation…
Many Swift GRBs show an early phase of shallow decay in their X-ray afterglows, lasting from $t \sim 10^{2.5} $s to $\sim 10^4 $s after the GRB, where the flux decays as $\sim t^{-0.2}-t^{-0.8}$. This is perhaps the most mysterious of the…
Context. Multi-wavelength observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows provide important information about the activity of their central engines and their environments. In particular, the short timescale variability, such as bumps…
We present a detailed analysis of Swift multi-wavelength observations of GRB 070110 and its remarkable afterglow. The early X-ray light curve, interpreted as the tail of the prompt emission, displays a spectral evolution already seen in…
We report on two recent z~4 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), GRB 060206 and GRB 060210, for which we have obtained well-sampled optical light curves. Our data, combined with early optical data reported in the literature, shows unusual behavior for…
The Gamma-Ray burst (GRB) - afterglow transition is one of the most interesting and least studied GRB phases. During this phase the relativistic ejecta begins interacting with the surrounding matter. A strong short lived reverse shock…
An intriguing hypothesis, that there exists a decaying X-ray emission component before the GRB trigger, has been suggested in order to explain the shallow decay phase of the X-ray afterglow detected in many Swift GRBs. If this "prior…
We report the results of the Swift and XMM observations of the Swift-discovered long Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 060729 ($T_{90}$=115s). The afterglow of this burst was exceptionally bright in X-rays as well as at UV/Optical wavelengths showing an…
GRB 210731A was a long-duration gamma-ray burst discovered by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) aboard the Neil Gehrels Swift observatory. Swift triggered the wide-field, robotic MeerLICHT optical telescope in Sutherland; it began observing…
Most X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed by the Swift satellite have a shallow decay phase t^{-1/2} in the first few hours. This is not predicted by the standard afterglow model and needs an explanation. We discuss that the…
We present early-time optical photometry and spectroscopy of the optical afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 011211. The spectrum of the optical afterglow contains several narrow metal lines which are consistent with the burst occurring at…
We examine a sample of 21 gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow light curves at radio frequencies, and compare them to the X-ray and/or optical properties of the afterglows and to the predictions of the standard jet/fireball model. Our sample…
We present the first statistical analysis of 27 UVOT optical/ultra-violet lightcurves of GRB afterglows. We have found, through analysis of the lightcurves in the observer's frame, that a significant fraction rise in the first 500s after…
The X-ray afterglows observed by Swift exhibit rich light-curves, with four phases of different decay rate. The temporal and spectral properties for a set of 47 bursts are used to identify the mechanisms which can explain these four phases.…
We present a systematic temporal and spectral study of all Swift-XRT observations of GRB afterglows discovered between 2005 January and 2007 December. After constructing and fitting all light curves and spectra to power-law models, we…
Bright optical and X-ray flares have been observed in many Gamma-ray Burst (GRB) afterglows. These flares have been attributed to late activity of the central engine. In most cases the peak energy is not known and it is possible and even…
We present the observations of the afterglow of gamma-ray burst GRB 090102. Optical data taken by the TAROT, REM, GROND, together with publicly available data from Palomar, IAC and NOT telescopes, and X-ray data taken by the XRT instrument…
We report on a complete set of early optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) obtained with the ROTSE-III telescope network from March 2005 through June 2007. This set is comprised of 12 afterglows with early optical and Swift/XRT…
We report our discovery and early time optical, near-infrared, and radio wavelength follow-up observations of the afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 021211. Our optical observations, beginning 21 min after the burst trigger, demonstrate…
It is by now fairly well established that gamma-ray burst afterglows result from initially relativistic outflows interacting with the medium surrounding the burster and emitting non-thermal radiation ranging from radio to X-rays. However,…
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow emission is believed to be produced by synchrotron emission of electrons accelerated to high energy by a relativistic collisionless shock propagating into a weakly magnetized plasma. Afterglow observations…