Different progenitors of short hard gamma-ray bursts
Abstract
We consider the spatial offsets of short hard gamma-ray bursts (SHBs) from their host galaxies. We show that all SHBs with extended-duration soft emission components lie very close to their hosts. We suggest that neutron star-black hole binary mergers offer a natural explanation for the properties of this extended-duration/low-offset group. SHBs with large offsets have no observed extended emission components and are less likely to have an optically detected afterglow, properties consistent with neutron star-neutron star binary mergers occurring in low-density environments.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- March 2008
- DOI:
- 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2007.00421.x
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0711.3034
- Bibcode:
- 2008MNRAS.385L..10T
- Keywords:
-
- stars: neutron;
- gamma-rays: bursts;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS