Related papers: GRB060218: A Relativistic Supernova Shock Breakout
Recent observations suggest that long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows are produced by highly relativistic jets emitted in core-collapse explosions. The pre-explosive ambient medium provides a natural test for the most…
We investigate the properties of both the prompt and X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the burst frame with a sample of 33 Swift GRBs. Assuming that the steep decay segment in the canonical X-ray afterglow lightcurves is due to…
The prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (hereafter GRBs) probably comes from a highly relativistic wind which converts its kinetic energy into radiation via the formation of shocks within the wind itself. Such "internal shocks" can occur if…
We describe our attempt to determine if gamma-ray burst (GRB) and afterglow emissions could both arise in external shocks for simple GRBs--bursts consisting of just a few peaks in their lightcurves. We calculate peak flux and peak frequency…
We show that a collisionless shock necessarily forms during the shock breakout of a supernova (SN) surrounded by an optically thick wind. An intense non-thermal flash of <~ MeV gamma rays, hard X-rays and multi-TeV neutrinos is produced…
The short/hard GRB051210 was detected and located by the Swift-BAT instrument and rapidly pointed towards by the narrow field instrumens. The XRT was able to observe a bright X-ray afterglow, one of the few ever observed for this class of…
The nearby GRB 060216/SN 2006aj was an extremely long, weak and very soft GRB. It was peculiar in many aspects. We show here that the X-ray, ultraviolet/optical and radio afterglow of GRB 060218 have to be attributed to different physical…
The collapse of a massive star is believed to be the most probable progenitor of a long GRB. Such a star is expected to modify its environment by stellar wind. The effect of such a circum-stellar wind medium is expected to be seen in the…
We present results of Swift optical, UV and X-ray observations of the afterglow of GRB 050801. The source is visible over the full optical, UV and X-ray energy range of the Swift UVOT and XRT instruments.Both optical and X-ray lightcurves…
Observing early optical emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) contemporaneous with the MeV prompt emission phase remains rare, requiring rapid-response robotic facilities. The Ond\v{r}ejov D50 telescope detected the optical counterpart of…
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…
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…
Gamma-ray bursts early afterglows are important tracers for determining the radial structure and magnetization of the ejecta. In this paper, we focus on GRB 110213A that shows double-peaked optical afterglow lightcurves and the shallow…
The prompt optical emission that arrives with gamma-rays from a cosmic gamma-ray burst (GRB) is a signature of the engine powering the burst, the properties of the ultra-relativistic ejecta of the explosion, and the ejecta's interactions…
It is long speculated that long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) originate froma relativistic jet emerging from a collapsing massive star progenitor. Although associations of core-collapsing supernovae with long GRB afterglows have been…
The absorption feature detected in the prompt X-ray emission of GRB990705 has important consequences for its circum-burst environment and therefore on its afterglows. Here we investigate whether the circum-burst environment constrained by…
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…
Long duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and X-ray flashes (XRFs) are produced by highly- relativistic jets ejected in core-collapse supernova explosions. The origin of short hard gamma-ray bursts (SHBs) has not been established. They may be…
The taxonomy of optical emission detected during the critical first few minutes after the onset of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) defines two broad classes: prompt optical emission correlated with prompt gamma-ray emission, and early optical…
Recent observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have provided growing evidence for collimated outflows and emission, and strengthened the connection between GRBs and supernovae. If massive stars are the progenitors of GRBs, the hard photon…