Scientific Seminars

GRB host galaxies at high resolution

Christina Thöne
Dark Cosmology Centre - Niels Bohr Institut DK

2008-10-13    15.00    Merate - POE

Gamma Ray bursts can serve as powerful lightsources to illuminate the high redshift universe while at the same time their nature is still not fully understood. The first part of the talk will give examples of low (GRB 060526) and high resolution (GRB 030329, GRB 060206) spectra of GRB afterglows at very different redshifts. From the absorption lines, we determine various properties of the host galaxy and its kinematics. The velocity structures detected suggest a superwind origin, not surprising in the supposedly heavily starforming GRB hosts. In the second part, I will present the hosts of the controversial GRB 060505 and NGC 2770, which hosted 3 Type Ib SNe. The very low redshift of these two galaxies allows spatially resolved studies of the different parts including the SN/GRB sites. Spectroscopy of the immediate environment through emission lines gives some interesting clues on the nature of the progenitor star of GRBs and SNe.