The Swift GRB Host Galaxy Legacy Survey
Abstract
I will describe the Swift Host Galaxy Legacy Survey (SHOALS), a comprehensive multiwavelengthprogram to characterize the demographics of the GRB host population and its redshift evolution from z=0 to z=7.Using unbiased selection criteria we have designated a subset of 119 Swift gamma-ray bursts which are now beingtargeted with intensive observational follow-up. Deep Spitzer imaging of every field has already been obtained andanalyzed, with major programs ongoing at Keck, GTC, Gemini, VLT, and Magellan to obtain complementaryoptical/NIR photometry and spectroscopy to enable full SED modeling and derivation of fundamental physicalparameters such as mass, extinction, and star-formation rate. Using these data I will present an unbiasedmeasurement of the GRB host-galaxy luminosity and mass distributions and their evolution with redshift, compareGRB hosts to other star-forming galaxy populations, and discuss implications for the nature of the GRB progenitor andthe ability of GRBs to serve as tools for measuring and studying cosmic star-formation in the distant universe.
- Publication:
-
IAU Focus Meeting
- Pub Date:
- 2016
- DOI:
- 10.1017/S1743921316005172
- Bibcode:
- 2016IAUFM..29B.248P