In Search of the Short Gamma-Ray Burst Optical Counterpart with the Zwicky Transient Facility
Abstract
The Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) detects many gamma-ray bursts, however the large localization regions makes the search for counterparts non practical. With the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) recently achieving first light, it is now fruitful to use its combination of depth (m ~ 20.8), field of view (~ 47 square degrees), and survey cadence (every ~ 3 days) to perform Target of Opportunity observations (ToO). A systematic search for optical counterparts to 7 GBM short gamma-ray burst using the ZTF is presented in this talk. Even though no counterpart has been found yet, more than 10 ground based telescopes part of the GROWTH network have taken part in the efforts. The candidate selection procedure and the follow up strategy have shown that ZTF is an efficient camera for searching for poorly localized short gamma-ray burst, retrieving a reasonable number of candidates to follow up and showing promising capabilities as the community approaches the multi-messenger era.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23535103A