Observations of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts: Prompt Emission and Afterglow
Abstract
The study of short gamma-ray bursts has been revolutionized by the discovery of afterglows and host galaxies. In this talk I will review observations of the prompt emission, afterglows, and host galaxies, primarily as they pertain to the nature of the progenitor systems. The bulk of the evidence points to the merger of compact objects (NS-NS or NS-BH) making short GRBs the prime candidate for gravitational wave detections with the next generation detectors. This work is partially supported by funds from NASA (through the Swift and Chandra GO programs) and the NSF through an AAG grant.
- Publication:
-
AAS/High Energy Astrophysics Division #12
- Pub Date:
- September 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011HEAD...12.2306B