GRB Afterglow Observations with Small Telescopes
Abstract
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) optical afterglows have a very transient nature; they decline with a time power law and fade below 20th magnitude within a day. On the other hand, in the early hours after the explosion, they can be detected with very modest equipment. To draw light curves of such transient objects, the participation and the collaboration of many observers over a wide range of longitude is to be encouraged, as well as a quick response to burst alerts. Here we present optical observations of some GRB afterglows with small (25 -- 60 cm) telescopes in Japan. We positively detected two GRB afterglows (GRB 010222, GRB 020331) in these two years, and another positive one (GRB 020813) followed after the conference. In the GRB 020331 case, the detection of the afterglow was in the earliest ever epoch after the burst, other than the case of the GRB 990123 flash.
- Publication:
-
8th Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, Volume II
- Pub Date:
- 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002aprm.conf..363Y