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ALMA Detection of the Host Galaxy of gamma-Ray Burst GRB 080607

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ALMA Detection of the Host Galaxy of gamma-Ray Burst GRB 080607
Image Credit: Wei-Hao Wang, Hsiao-Wen Chen, and Kui-Yun Huang

GRB 080607 is a gamma-ray burst from the distant universe of 12 billion light year away (z = 3.036). It is also a dark burst, whose optical light is strongly absorbed by dust. We detected the host galaxy of GRB 080607 with ALMA in the submillimeter wave, and studied its far-infrared emission. The result shows that the host galaxy is a normal star forming galaxy, and suggests that dark GRBs do not arise from a special population of galaxies. This work is published on the Astrophysical Journal Letter in 2012.