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[45.01] On the Nature of ``X-Ray-Rich'' Gamma-Ray Bursts

D. Q. Lamb, C. Graziani (University of Chicago)

About 40% of the GRBs that HETE-2 has detected and localized are ``X-ray-rich'' GRBs or X-Ray Flashes. HETE-2 observations of these bursts show that their durations and time histories are similar to those of GRBs, and that the spectral properties of GRBs, ``X-ray-rich GRBs, and X-Ray Flashes form a continuum. These results provide strong evidence that all of these kinds of bursts are produced by the same mechanism. We describe a model for GRBs that accounts for the properties of the prompt gamma-ray emission and the afterglows of ``X-ray-rich'' GRBs. This model implies that ``X-ray-rich'' GRBs may be a particularly useful laboratory for studying the nature of Type Ib/Ic core collapse supernovae.

This work was supported in part by NASA Contract NASW-4690 and NASA Grant NAG5-10759.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35 #3
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.