GRB3 - GRBs and Host Galaxies |
Speaker_ |
Le Floc'h, Emeric |
Co-autors |
V.Charmandaris, B.Forrest, L.Armus, F.Mirabel, D.Devost, D.Sanders, P.A.Duc, F.Hammer, H.Aussel, F.Combes, H.Flores |
Talk _ |
A survey of GRB host galaxies with the Spitzer Space Telescope |
Abstract _ |
While long GRBs are known to originate from galaxies harboring massive star-forming activity, the reliability of these events as unbiased probes of the --integrated-- star formation history of the Universe is still debated. I will present the first results of a on-going program targetting 56 long GRB hosts using the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, with the goal of characterizing their mass and extinction-corrected star formation rates. I will emphasize the comparison of these objects with the massive and infrared-luminous starbursts responsible for a significant fraction of the stellar mass assembly at high redshifts. I will show that GRB hosts are statistically less active and less evolved. I will discuss implications in both our undersanding of the formation of such events as well as the use of GRBs as star formation tracers. |