Related papers: Survival analysis of the Swift optical transient d…
The Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) 180720B is one of the brightest events detected by the Fermi satellite and the first GRB detected by the H.E.S.S. telescope above 100 GeV. We analyse the Fermi (GBM and LAT) and Swift (XRT and BAT) data and…
Very faint X-ray transients (VFXTs) are X-ray transients with peak X-ray luminosities ($L_X$) of $L_X\lesssim10^{36}$ erg/s, which are not well-understood. We carried out a survey of 16 square degrees of the Galactic Bulge with the Swift…
Decades ago two classes of gamma-ray bursts were identified and delineated as having durations shorter and longer than about 2 s. Subsequently indications also supported the existence of a third class. Using maximum likelihood estimation we…
The new and extreme population of GRBs detected by Fermi-LAT shows several new features in high energy gamma-rays that are providing interesting and unexpected clues into GRB prompt and afterglow emission mechanisms. Over the last 6 years,…
We present 10 new gamma-ray burst (GRB) redshifts and another five redshift limits based on host galaxy spectroscopy obtained as part of a large program conducted at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The redshifts span the range 0.345 < z <…
We present the motivation, aims and preliminary result from the Swift/VLT legacy survey on gamma-ray burst host galaxies. This survey will produce a homogeneous and well-understood host sample covering more than 95% of the lookback time to…
The complex structure of the light curves of Swift GRBs has made their interpretation and that of the blast wave caused by the burst, more difficult than in the pre-Swift era. We aim to constrain the blast wave parameters: electron energy…
The Swift GRB satellite is an excellent facility for studying novae. Its rapid response time and sensitive X-ray detector provides an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the previously poorly sampled evolution of novae in the X-ray…
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are known to be unpredictable in time and position. A few (observationally) exceptional events have been observed, as GRB221009A that stands out for its fluence and peak flux, being orders of magnitude higher than…
We have discovered a correlation between the observed peak spectral energy E_pk,obs and the average Euclidean value of V/V_max of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We present the evidence for the correlation in the GUSBAD catalog and use it to…
The majority of Swift gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed at z > 6 have prompt durations of T90 < 30s, which, at first sight, is surprising given that cosmological time-dilation means this corresponds to < 5s in their rest frames. We have…
Here we propose a new gamma-ray burst (GRB) mission, the Next Generation Rapid-Response GRB Observatory (NGRG). As with Swift, GRBs are initially located with a coded-mask X-ray camera. However, the NGRG has two new features: First, a…
To draw inferences about gamma-ray burst (GRB) source populations based on Swift observations, it is essential to understand the detection efficiency of the Swift burst alert telescope (BAT). This study considers the problem of modeling the…
We report on X-ray properties of the gamma-ray binary 1FGL J1018.6-5856 using observations obtained with the Swift X-ray telescope. Using 54 observations made between MJD 55575 and 55984, we find that the X-ray flux is modulated at a period…
We present deep Swift follow-up observations of a sample of 94 unidentified X-ray sources from the XMM-Newton Slew Survey. The X-ray Telescope on-board Swift detected 29% of the sample sources; the flux limits for undetected sources…
The Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) survey of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is providing an unprecedented view of local AGNs (<z> = 0.03) and their host galaxy properties. In this paper, we present an analysis of the optical spectra of a…
We present an optical flux vs. X-ray flux diagram for all known gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) for which an X-ray afterglow has been detected. We propose an operational definition of dark bursts as those bursts that are optically subluminous with…
We present several cases of optical observations during gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) which resulted in prompt limits but no detection of optical emission. These limits constrain the prompt optical flux densities and the optical brightness…
We compare mid-infrared emission-line properties, from high-resolution Spitzer spectra of a hard X-ray (14 -- 195 keV) selected sample of nearby (z < 0.05) AGN detected by the Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) aboard Swift. The luminosity…
The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer performed its first autonomous, X-ray follow-up to a newly detected GRB on 2005 January 17, within 193 seconds of the burst trigger by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. While the burst was still in…