Gamma-ray Burst Formation Environment: Comparison of Redshift Distributions of GRB Afterglows

• Main Authors: Sung-Eun Kim, Heon-Young Chang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Space Science Society (KSSS) 2005-12-01
• Series: Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• Subjects: gamma ray bursts; afterglows; miscellaneous - cosmology - methods; statistical
• Online Access: http://ocean.kisti.re.kr/downfile/volume/kosss/OJOOBS/2005/v22n4/OJOOBS_2005_v22n4_377.pdf
• ISSN: 2093-5587; 2093-1409

Since gamma-ray bursts(GRBs) have been first known to science societites in 1973, many scientists are involved in their studies. Observations of GRB afterglows provide us with much information on the environment in which the observed GRBs are born. Study of GRB afterglows deals with longer timescale emissions in lower energy bands (e.g., months or even up to years) than prompt emissions in gamma-rays. Not all the bursts accompany afterglows in whole ranges of wavelengths. It has been suggested as a reason for that, for instance, that radio and/or X-ray afterglows are not recorded mainly due to lower sensitivity of detectors, and optical afterglows due to extinctions in intergalactic media or self-extinctions within a host galaxy itself. Based on the idea that these facts may also provide information on the GRB environment, we analyze statistical properties of GRB afterglows. We first select samples of the redshift-known GRBs according to the wavelength of afterglow they accompanied. We then compare their distributions as a function of redshift, using statistical methods. As a results, we find that the distribution of the GRBs with X-ray afterglows is consistent with that of the GRBs with optical afterglows. We, therefore, conclude that the lower detection rate of optical afterglows is not due to extinctions in intergalactic media.