GRB follow-up team

Optical identification of gamma-ray bursts with BTA

The main result of the international observational program (the problem for BTA was formulated in 1993) of optical identification of space gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with already known objects: GRBs are identified with ordinary (non-peculiar) galaxies up to the 28-th stellar magnitude and more. GRB host galaxies are not peculiar objects. These are galaxies with star-forming, which occur most often in the Universe. In their properties (luminosity, mass, age, metallicity, star-forming rate) they are similar to usual galaxies with analogous red shifts and observable stellar magnitudes.

The second result of identification: observation of supernovae related with GRBs (SN/GRB). At present, long GRBs are identified with explosions of (probably) usual massive stars at the end of their evolution, i.e. massive (core-collapse) supernovae (CC-SNe). Thus, now GRBs are identified with 1) regions of the forming of massive stars (with massive star-forming) in host galaxies and 2) with explosions of short-living massive stars in the same galaxies - CC-SN/GRBs.

The search for differences between relatively nearby CC-SN (identified with GRBs) and distant CC-SN (which should be identified with GRBs) could be an additional observational (cosmological) test. One can ask a question analogous to that of GRB host galaxies: do SN/GRB differ from usual (e.g. local) SNe? In general, what are red shifts at which CC-SNe are quite different from local CC-SNe? This could be the third important result of identification of space gamma-ray bursts.