2002/07/31 by V. E. Barnard, A. W. Blain, N. R. Tanvir +7 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Afterglow #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Dark galaxy #Galaxy #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #James Clerk Maxwell Telescope #Photometry (optics) #Population #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Star formation #Telescope #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.05860.x
published as Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc.338:1,2003; AIPConf.Proc.662:342-345,2003 · 6 pages. Accepted for publication in MNRAS
arxiv created 2002/07/31 · openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present the results of a search for submillimetre-luminous host galaxies of optically dark gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). We made photometry measurements of the 850-μm flux at the location of four ‘dark bursts’, which are those with no detected optical afterglow despite rapid deep searches, and which may therefore be within galaxies containing substantial amounts of dust. We were unable to detect any individual source significantly. Our results are consistent with predictions for the host galaxy population as a whole, rather than for a subset of dusty hosts. This indicates that optically dark GRBs are not especially associated with very submillimetre-luminous galaxies and so cannot be used as reliable indicators of dust-enshrouded massive star formation activity. Further observations are required to establish the relationship between the wider GRB host galaxy population and SCUBA galaxies.