Related papers: GRB 021004: a Massive Progenitor Star Surrounded b…

Likely progenitors for the GRBs (gamma-ray bursts) are the mergers of compact objects or the explosions of massive stars. These two cases have distinctive environments for the GRB afterglow: the compact object explosions occur in the ISM…

We present an explanation for the unusual temporal feature of the GRB 030226 afterglow. The R-band afterglow of this burst faded as ~ t^{-1.2} in ~ 0.2 days after the burst, rebrightened during the period of ~ 0.2 - 0.5 days, and then…

Long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are produced by ultra-relativistic jets launched from core collapse of massive stars. Most massive stars form in binaries and/or in star clusters, which means that there may be a significant external photon…

We present radio observations of GRB 020405 starting 1.2 days after the burst, which reveal a rapidly-fading ``radio flare''. Based on its temporal and spectral properties, we interpret the radio flare as emission from the reverse shock.…

We present U,B,V,R_C,and I_C photometry of the optical afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 021004 taken at the Nordic Optical Telescope between approximately eight hours and 30 days after the burst. This data is combined with an analysis…

In order to constrain the broad-band spectral energy distribution of the afterglow of GRB 100621A, dedicated observations were performed in the optical/near-infrared with the 7-channel "Gamma-Ray Burst Optical and Near-infrared Detector"…

On 2006 May 5, a four second duration, low energy, ~10^49 erg, Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) was observed, spatially associated with a z=0.0894 galaxy. Here, we report the discovery of the GRB optical afterglow and observations of its environment…

The association of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with star forming regions and the idea of massive stars as progenitors of GRBs are widely accepted. Because of their short lifetimes, it is very likely that massive stars are still embedded in…

We study the evolution of the circumstellar medium of massive stars. We pay particular attention to Wolf-Rayet stars that are thought to be the progenitors of some long Gamma-Ray Bursts. We detail the mass-loss rates we use in our stellar…

The optical light-curves of GRB afterglows 990123 and 021211 exhibit a steep decay at 100--600 seconds after the burst, the decay becoming slower after about 10 minutes. We investigate two scenarios for the fast decaying early optical…

We have conducted a thorough and blind search for emission lines in >70 Swift X-ray afterglows of total exposure ~10^7s. We find that most afterglows are consistent with pure power-laws plus extinction. Significant outliers to the…

We present a broadband modeling of the afterglow of GRB 021004. The optical transient of this burst has been detected very early and densely sampled in several bands. Its light curve shows significant deviations from a simple power law. We…

We present hydrodynamical models of circumstellar medium (CSM) of long gamma-ray burst (GRB) progenitor candidates. These are massive stars that have lost a large amount of mass in the form of stellar wind during their evolution. There are…

We analyze high resolution spectroscopic observations of the optical afterglow of GRB050730, obtained with UVES@VLT about hours after the GRB trigger. The spectrum shows that the ISM of the GRB host galaxy at z = 3.967 is complex, with at…

The afterglow emission that follows gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) contains valuable information about the circumburst medium and, therefore, about the GRB progenitor. Theoretical studies of GRB blast waves, however, are often limited to simple…

GRB 050730 is a long duration high-redshift burst (z=3.967) discovered by Swift. The afterglow shows variability and is well monitored over a wide wavelength range. We present comprehensive temporal and spectral analysis of the afterglow of…

Aims: We present multiwavelength observations of one of the most distant gamma-ray bursts detected so far, GRB 080913. Based on these observations, we consider whether it could be classified as a short-duration GRB and discuss the…

GRB080319B reached 5th optical magnitude during the burst prompt emission. Thanks to the VLT/UVES rapid response mode, we observed its afterglow just 8m:30s after the GRB onset when the magnitude was R ~ 12. This allowed us to obtain the…

We present multiwavelength observations of the afterglow of GRB 130427A, the brightest (in total fluence) gamma-ray burst of the past 29 years. Optical spectroscopy from Gemini-North reveals the redshift of the GRB to be z=0.340, indicating…

The properties of a massive star prior to its final explosion are imprinted in the circumstellar medium (CSM) created by its wind and termination shock. We perform a detailed, comprehensive calculation of the time-variable and…