Spitzer Observations of the Highest-Redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts

Details Spitzer Observations of the Highest-Redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts Spitzer Observations of the Highest-Redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts

Sep 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004sptz.prop.3592f&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #3592

Physics

Scientific paper

We propose to use the Spitzer Space Telescope to study the infrared (3.6 to 8.0 micron) afterglow emission of GRBs from the 'dark ages' of the universe, z>6. Current theories of the early universe predict the first star formation activity at z~20, and since GRBs are associated with the deaths of massive stars they may be expected at this epoch as well, before the formation of the first quasars. Our candidate high-redshift afterglows will be identified in ground-based near-infrared imaging as objects with red J-K and H-K colors, J-K > H-K > 3.0 mag. For these bursts, 4-band IRAC imaging can provide the crucial additional color information that will distinguish afterglows at z>13 (H-band drop-outs) from those within high-extinction environments at z>6 (rest-frame E_B-V>0.8). We request time to carry out two high-impact Spitzer TOO campaigns during the cycle. The confirmation of even a single z>6 burst will have immediate implications for theories of the early universe, formation of the first nonlinear structures, the nature of the earliest stars, and cosmology.

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