Related papers: X-ray flares from dense shells formed in gamma-ray…

We study the late-time (t>0.5 days) X-ray afterglows of nearby (z<0.5) long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) with Swift and identify a population of explosions with slowly decaying, super-soft (photon index Gamma_x>3) X-ray emission that is…

Here we report the discovery in the X-ray band of the first afterglow of a gamma-ray burst. It was detected and quickly positioned by the Beppo-SAX satellite on 1997 February 28 (GRB970228). The X-ray afterglow source was detected with the…

We present the simultaneous Swift and Fermi observations of the bright GRB100728A and its afterglow. The early X-ray emission is dominated by a vigorous flaring activity continuing until 1 ks after the burst. In the same time interval high…

The X-ray light curves of many gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed by the Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT) have a very steep-decay component (tail) following the prompt gamma-rays in the early phase and have some erratic flares occurring at a time…

We present the discovery of XRF 050215B and its afterglow. The burst was detected by the Swift BAT during the check-out phase and observations with the X-ray telescope began approximately 30 minutes after the burst. These observations found…

If gamma-ray bursts originate in dense stellar forming regions, the interstellar material can imprint detectable absorption features on the observed X-ray spectrum. Such features can be detected by existing and planned X-ray satellites, as…

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are a mixed class of sources consisting of, at least, the long duration and short-hard subclasses, the X-ray flashes, and the low-luminosity GRBs. In all cases, the release of enormous amounts of energy on a short…

We use a wavelet technique to investigate the time variations in the light curves from a sample of GRBs detected by Fermi and Swift. We focus primarily on the behavior of the flaring region of Swift-XRT light curves in order to explore…

Two X-ray sources were recently discovered by Irwin et al. in compact companions to elliptical galaxies to show ultra-luminous flares with fast rise (~ minute) and decay (~ hour), and with a peak luminosity ~10^{40-41} erg/s. Together with…

Short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) are thought to be produced by binary NS mergers. While a sGRB requires a relativistic jet to break out of ejecta, the jet may be choked and fails to produce a successful sGRB. We propose a "delayed breakout"…

We report the simultaneous observations of the prompt emission in the gamma-ray and hard X-ray bands by the Swift-BAT and the KONUS-Wind instruments of the short-hard burst, GRB 060313. The observations reveal multiple peaks in both the…

X-ray observations are a direct diagnostic of fast electrons produced in solar flares, energized during the energy release process and directed towards the Sun. Since the properties of accelerated electrons can be substantially changed…

We present the results of X-ray and optical observations of GRB050712 performed by Swift. The X-ray lightcurve of this burst exhibits episodes of flares in the first 1000s, the same epoch at which the UVOT detected an optical counterpart. A…

In the fireball model, it is more physically realistic that gamma-ray burst (GRB) ejecta have a range of bulk Lorentz factors (assuming $M\propto \Gamma^{-s}$). The low Lorentz factor part of the ejecta will catch up with the high Lorentz…

The recent detection of X-ray flares during the afterglow phase of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) suggests an inner-engine origin, at radii inside the forward shock. There must be inverse Compton (IC) emission arising from such flare photons…

Almost all the X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed by the Swift satellite have a shallow decay phase in the first thousands of seconds. We show that in an inhomogeneous jet (multiple-subjet or patchy-shell) model the…

New two- and three-dimensional calculations are presented of relativistic jet propagation and break out in massive Wolf-Rayet stars. Such jets are thought responsible for gamma-ray bursts. As it erupts, the jet is surrounded by a cocoon of…

Swift-detected GRB 080307 showed an unusual smooth rise in its X-ray light-curve around 100 seconds after the burst, at the start of which the emission briefly softened. This `hump' has a longer duration than is normal for a flare at early…

The Galactic hard X-ray transient SWIFT J195509+261406 was first observed as a gamma-ray burst GRB 070610. Within 3 days after the burst, more than forty optical flares had been observed. Here we propose that this peculiar event should be…

We use the cannonball (CB) model of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows (AGs) to analyze the observational data on X-ray flashes (XRFs) and their AGs. We show that the observations support the CB-model interpretation that XRFs,…