A significant proportion (̃30 per cent) of the short-duration gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) localized by Swift have no detected host galaxy coincident with the burst location to deep limits, and also no high-likelihood association with proximate galaxies …
We report the discovery of the optical afterglow of the γ-ray burst (GRB) 130702A, identified upon searching 71 deg$^2$ surrounding the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) localization. Discovered and characterized by the intermediate Palomar …
We present a preliminary data release from our multi-year campaign at Keck Observatory to study the host galaxies of a large sample of Swift-era gamma-ray bursts via multi-color ground-based optical imaging and spectroscopy. With over 160 targets …
The unequivocal, spectroscopic detection of the 2175 ̊A bump in extinction curves outside the Local Group is rare. To date, the properties of the bump have been examined in only two gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows (GRB 070802 and GRB 080607). In …
While a white dwarf (WD) is, from a theoretical perspective, the most plausible primary star of a Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), many other candidates have not been formally ruled out. Shock energy deposited in the envelope of any exploding primary …
Type Ia supernovae are thought to result from a thermonuclear explosion of an accreting white dwarf in a binary system, but little is known of the precise nature of the companion star and the physical properties of the progenitor system. There are …
Type Ia supernovae are key tools for measuring distances on a cosmic scale. They are generally thought to be the thermonuclear explosion of an accreting white dwarf in a close binary system. The nature of the mass donor is still uncertain. In the …
This paper presents the first results from a new citizen science project: Galaxy Zoo Supernovae. This proof-of-concept project uses members of the public to identify supernova candidates from the latest generation of wide-field imaging transient …
Metallicity is expected to influence not only the lives of massive stars but also the outcome of their deaths as supernovae (SNe) and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, there are surprisingly few direct measurements of the local metallicities of …
We revisit echelle spectra (spectral resolution R ≈ 40,000) of eight gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows to obtain the incidence (dN/dz) of weak intervening Mg II systems at a mean redshift of langzrang = 1.5. We show that dN/dz of systems having …