Astrophysics

Toward a More Standardized Candle Using Gamma-Ray Burst Energetics and Spectra

The use of gamma-ray burst (GRB) energetics for cosmography has long been advanced as a means to probe out to high redshifts, to the epoch of deceleration. However, although relatively immune to systematic biases from dust extinction, the prompt …

An infrared flash contemporaneous with the γ-rays of GRB 041219a

The explosion that results in a cosmic γ-ray burst (GRB) is thought to produce emission from two physical processes: the central engine gives rise to the high-energy emission of the burst through internal shocking, and the subsequent interaction of …

Optical Bumps in Cosmological GRBs as Supernovae

From both photometric and broadband spectral monitoring of γ-ray burst (GRB) lightcurve ``bumps,'' particularly in GRB011121, a strong case grew for a supernova (SN) origin. The GRB-SN connection was finally solidified beyond a reasonable doubt with …

GRB 021211 as a Faint Analog of GRB 990123: Exploring the Similarities and Differences in the Optical Afterglows

We present BVR$_C$JHK$_s$ photometry of the optical afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 021211 taken at the Magellan, MMT, and WIYN observatories between 0.7 and 50 days after the burst. We find an intrinsic spectral slope at optical and …

Discovery of a Transient U-Band Dropout in a Lyman Break Survey: A Tidally Disrupted Star at z=3.3?

We report the discovery of a transient source in the central regions of galaxy cluster A267. The object, which we call ``PALS-1,`` was found in a survey aimed at identifying highly magnified Lyman break galaxies in the fields of intervening rich …

The Host Galaxy of GRB 031203: Implications of Its Low Metallicity, Low Redshift, and Starburst Nature

We present Keck/NIRSPEC near-IR images and Magellan/IMACS optical spectroscopy of the host galaxy of GRB 031203. The host is an actively star-forming galaxy at z=0.1055+/-0.0001. This is the lowest redshift GRB to date, aside from GRB 980425. From …

Results of a search for new microquasars in the Galaxy

We present here the results of a search for new microquasars at low galactic latitudes, based on a cross-identification between the ROSAT all sky Bright Source Catalog (RBSC) and the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) and follow-up observations. The results …

The Supernova Associated with GRB 031203: SMARTS Optical-Infrared Light Curves from 0.2 to 92 Days

Optical and infrared monitoring of the afterglow site of gamma-ray burst GRB 031203 has revealed a brightening source embedded in the host galaxy, which we attribute to the presence of a supernova (SN) related to the GRB (``SN 2003lw''). We present …

Direct Detection of Dark Matter with Space-based Laser Interferometers

Dark matter pervades the Solar System, free-streaming at the halo's local Galactic orbital velocity and density. As these objects pass through the Solar system, they perturb gravitationally, and thus very weakly, all nearby inertial masses. Making …

Optical Limits on Precursor Emission from Gamma-Ray Bursts with Known Redshift

Making use of virtual observatory data, we present the first comprehensive sample of optical observations conducted before the explosion times of all gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with known redshifts. In total, the fields of 11 such GRBs were observed by …