GRBs as Probes of Massive Stars Near and Far

Details GRBs as Probes of Massive Stars Near and Far GRBs as Probes of Massive Stars Near and Far

2008-11-24

arxiv.org/abs/0811.3897v2

2008IAUS..250..443F

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Invited review - in "Massive Stars as Cosmic Engines", IAU Symp. 250 (Kauai), ed. F. Bresolin, P. A. Crowther, and J. Puls (Ca

Scientific paper

10.1017/S1743921308020814

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts are the manifestations of massive stellar death. Due to the immense energy release they are detectable from most of the observable universe. In this way they allow us to study the deaths of single (or binary) massive stars possibly throughout the full timespan massive stars have existed in the Universe. GRBs provide a means to infer information about the environments and typical galaxies in which massive stars are formed. Two main obstacles remain to be crossed before the full potential of GRBs as probes of massive stars can be harvested: i) we need to build more complete and well understood samples in order not to be fooled by biases, and ii) we need to understand to which extent GRBs may be intrinsically biased in the sense that they are only formed by a limited subset of massive stars defined by most likely a restricted metallicity interval. We describe the status of an ongoing effort to build a more complete sample of long-duration GRBs with measured redshifts. Already now we can conclude that the environments of GRB progenitors are very diverse with metallicities ranging from solar to a hundredth solar and extinction ranging from none to A_V>5 mag. We have also identified a sightline with significant escape of Lyman continuum photons and another with a clear 2175AA extinction bump.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

GRBs as Probes of Massive Stars Near and Far does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with GRBs as Probes of Massive Stars Near and Far, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and GRBs as Probes of Massive Stars Near and Far will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-645236