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This article covers ten years of GRB follow-ups by the Spanish BOOTES stations: 71 follow-ups providing 23 detections. Follow-ups by BOOTES-1B from 2005 to 2008 were given in a previous article and are here reviewed and updated, and additional detection data points are included as the former article merely stated their existence. The all-sky cameras CASSANDRA have not yet detected any GRB optical afterglows, but limits are reported where available., The authors appreciate the auspices of INTA, IHSM-UMA/CSIC, and UMA as well as the financial support by the Junta de Andaluca and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Research Projects P07-TIC-03094, P12-TIC2839, AYA2009-14000-C03-01, AYA 2010-39727-C03-01, and AYA-2015-71718-R. Martin Jelinek was supported by the postdoctoral fellowship of the Czech Academy of Sciences. This study was carried out in the framework of the Unidad Asociada IAA-CSIC at the Group of Planetary Science of ETSI-UPV/EHU. This work was supported by the Ikerbasque Foundation for Science. The Czech CVUT FEL team acknowledges the support by GA CR Grant 13-33324S.

In structural dynamics, periodic resonant inclusions are widely used to improve the vibro-acoustic properties of lightweight structures. Depending on the design of these inclusions, the wave propagation in the structure is modified for specific frequency ranges and stop bands, where in theory no free wave propagation is possible, can be generated. The Wave Finite Element Method (WFEM) investigates the wave propagation in periodic structures based on a Finite Element (FE) model of a single unit cell. Using the direct approach of the WFEM, it is possible to depict the wave characteristics in the frequency range of the resonant frequency of the inclusions. Consequently, a spatial decay for the different wave types can be determined in the frequency range of the potential stop band. The frequency dependent decay characteristics can be used to evaluate the performance of the resonant inclusions and find optimal parameters for the desired application of the metamaterial. The procedure is applied to design beam-like resonators and find an optimal resonator spacing for a beam-like acoustic metamaterial. For a fixed percentage of added mass, the spacing of the resonators can be adjusted to optimize the maximum spatial decay or the stop band size.

We investigate the serendipitous X-ray source population revealed in XMM-Newton observations targeted in the Galactic Plane within the region 315 10^{32} erg/s, whereas some will be extragalactic interlopers. >90% of the soft sources have potential NIR (2MASS and/or UKIDSS) counterparts inside their error circles, consistent with the dominant soft X-ray source population being relatively nearby coronally-active stars. These stellar counterparts are generally brighter than J=16, a brightness cutoff which corresponds to the saturation of the X-ray coronal emission at L_X=10^{-3} L_{bol}. In contrast, the success rate in finding likely IR counterparts to the hard X-ray sample is no more than ~15% down to J=16 and ~25% down to J=20, set against a rapidly rising chance coincidence rate. The make-up of the hard X-ray source population, in terms of the known classes of accreting and non-accreting systems, remains uncertain.

We present multiwavelength (optical/near infrared/millimetre) observations of a short duration gamma-ray burst detected by Swift (GRB 050509b) collected between 0 seconds and ~18.8 days after the event. No optical, near infrared or millimetre emission has been detected in spite of the well localised X-ray afterglow, confirming the elusiveness of the short duration events. We also discuss the possibility of the burst being located in a cluster of galaxies at z= 0.225 or beyond. In the former case, the spectral energy distribution of the neighbouring, potential host galaxy, favours a system harbouring an evolved dominant stellar population (age ~360 Myr), unlike most long duration GRB host galaxies observed so far, i.e. thus giving support to a compact binary merger origin. Any underlying supernova that could be associated with this particular event should have been at least 3 magnitudes fainter than the type Ib/c SN 1998bw and 2.3 magnitudes fainter than a typical type Ia SN., Accepted for publication in A&A letters

We present multiwavelength observations of one of the most distant gamma-ray bursts detected so far, GRB080913. Based on these observations, we consider whether it could be classified as a short-duration GRB and discuss the implications for the progenitor nature and energy extraction mechanisms. Methods. Multiwavelength X-ray, near IR and millimetre observations were made between 20.7 h and ∼16.8 days after the event. Results. Whereas a very faint afterglow was seen at the 3.5m CAHA telescope in the nIR, the X-ray afterglow was clearly detected in both Swift and XMM-Newton observations. An upper limit is reported in the mm range. We have modeled the data assuming a collimated θ0 3◦ blast wave with an energy injection at ∼0.5 days carrying 5 ∼ 1052 erg or approximately 12 times the initial energy of the blast wave. We find that GRB 080913 shares many of the gamma-ray diagnostics with the more recent burst GRB 090423 for being classified as short had they ocurred at low redshift. If the progenitor were a compact binary merger, it is likely composed by a NS and BH. The Blandford-Znajek (BZ) mechanism is the preferred one to extract energy from the central, maximally-rotating BH. Both the magnetic field close to the event horizon (B) and the BHmass (Mbh) are restricted within a relatively narrow range, such that (B/3× 1016 G)(Mbh/7 M ) ∼ 1. Similar constraints on the central BH hold for collapsar-like progenitor systems if the BZ-mechanism works for the system at hand., OTKA MICINN

Most of the transient sources that are detected in the gamma-ray sky are produced by extragalactic gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, it is known that there are some other astronomical objects that can produce high-energy bursts within the Milky Way. SWIFT J195509+261406, just one degree off the Galactic plane, is one of them. It was discovered on the 10th July 2007 by the Swift satellite and was since then observable for a period of a fortnight. During this time SWIFT J195509+261406 experimented dramatic flaring activity that could be observed in near infrared, optical and X-rays. We gathered multi-wavelength observations of SWIFT J195509+261406 including optical, near infrared, millimeter and radio observations. Our dataset covers the time from 1 min after the burst onset to more than 4 months later. Following the initial burst in the gamma-ray band, we recorded more than 40 flaring episodes in the optical bands (reaching up to I c ∼ 15) over a time span of 3 days, plus a faint infrared flare that was observed at late times. After this time, the source slowly faded away until it became undetectable. Using the observations compiled in this work we propose that this source is part of the magnetar family, linking soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars to dim isolated neutron stars.

We present multiwavelength observations of the optically flaring source SWFIT J195509+261406 (initially mimicking a GRB), and discuss its nature considering several possibilities, amongst them an ultracompact low‐mass X‐ray binary. Finally we suggest a likely magnetar nature implying a missing link to the dim isolated neutron stars.

GRB 050730 is a long duration high-redshift burst (z=3.967) discovered by Swift. The afterglow shows variability and is well monitored over a wide wavelength range. We present comprehensive temporal and spectral analysis of the afterglow of GRB 050730 including observations from the millimeter to X-rays. We use multi-wavelength afterglow data to understand the temporal and spectral decay properties with superimposed variability of this high redshift burst. Five telescopes were used to study the decaying afterglow of GRB 050730 in the B, V, r', R, i', I, J and K photometric pass bands. A spectral energy distribution was constructed at 2.9 hours post-burst in the K, J, I, R, V and B bands. X-ray data from the satellites Swift and XMM-Newton were used to study the afterglow evolution at higher energies. The early afterglow shows variability at early times and shows a steepening at ~0.1 days (8.6 ks) in the B, V, r', R, i', I, J and K passbands. The early afterglow light curve decayed with alpha_1 = -0.60+/-0.07 and alpha_2 = -1.71+/-0.06 based on R and I band data. A millimeter detection of the afterglow around 3 days after the burst shows an excess in comparison to predictions. The early X-ray light curve observed by Swift is complex and contains flares. At late times the X-ray light curve can be fit by a powerlaw alpha_x = -2.5+/-0.15 which is steeper than the optical light curve. A spectral energy distribution (SED) was constructed at \~2.9 hours after the burst. An electron energy index, p, of ~ 2.3 was calculated using the SED and the photon index from the X-ray afterglow spectra and indicates that the synchrotron cooling frequency nu_c is above observed frequencies., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A. Typo corrected in revision

Since the discovery of the first short-hard gamma-ray burst afterglows in 2005, the handful of observed events have been found to be embedded in nearby (z < 1), bright underlying galaxies. We present multiwavelength observations of the short-duration burst GRB 060121, which is the first observed to clearly outshine its host galaxy (by a factor >10^2). A photometric redshift for this event places the progenitor at a most probable redshift of z = 4.6, with a less probable scenario of z = 1.7. In either case, GRB 060121 could be the farthermost short-duration GRB detected to date and implies an isotropic-equivalent energy release in gamma-rays comparable to that seen in long-duration bursts. We discuss the implications of the released energy on the nature of the progenitor. These results suggest that GRB 060121 may belong to a family of energetic short-duration events, lying at z > 1 and whose optical afterglows would outshine their host galaxies, unlike the first short-duration GRBs observed in 2005. The possibility of GRB 060121 being an intermediate duration burst is also discussed., 4 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to ApJL

GRB 021004 is one of the best sampled gamma-ray bursts (GRB) to date, although the nature of its light curve is still being debated. Here we present a large amount (107) of new optical, near-infrared (NIR) and millimetre observations, ranging from 2 hours to more than a year after the burst. Fitting the multiband data to a model based on multiple energy injections suggests that at least 7 refreshed shocks took place during the evolution of the afterglow, implying a total energy release (collimated within an angle of 1.8 deg) of ~ 8x10^51 erg. Analysis of the late photometry reveals that the GRB 021004 host is a low extinction (Av ~ 0.1) starburst galaxy with M_B ~ -22.0., 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&Ax

We present multiwavelength observations of a gamma-ray burst detected by INTEGRAL (GRB 030227) between 5.3 hours and ~1.7 days after the event. Here we report the discovery of a dim optical afterglow (OA) that would not have been detected by many previous searches due to its faintess (R~23). This OA was seen to decline following a power law decay with index Alpha_R= -0.95 +/- 0.16. The spectral index Beta_opt/NIR yielded -1.25 +/- 0.14. These values may be explained by a relativistic expansion of a fireball (with p = 2.0) in the cooling regime. We also find evidence for inverse Compton scattering in X-rays., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

LOTIS (Livermore Optical Transient Imaging System) and Super‐LOTIS are automatic telescope systems that search for prompt optical emission from gamma‐ray bursts (GRBs). Both systems are capable of responding to the Gamma‐ray burst Coordinate Network (GCN) triggers within seconds. These systems have been monitoring the GCN real‐time data for automatic HETE2 GRB triggers since HETE2’s launch. In this paper, we present the systems’ capability and current status. We also present the result of the GRB010921 afterglow detection that was localized by HETE2 and the IPN.

We present optical broad- and narrow-band imaging of a sample of a dozen barred galaxies. These images are analyzed in conjunction with our previously published near-infrared imaging of their central regions and with literature values for, e.g., bar strengths and the total star formation activity of the galaxies. We present B, I and H alpha images, and radial profiles derived from these, to infer geometric and dynamical parameters of the structural components of the galaxies, such as bar lengths, bar ellipticities, and location of star formation and dust. We find that the more centrally concentrated the H alpha emission in a galaxy is, i.e., the higher the fraction of star formation originating in the circumnuclear region, the higher the overall star formation rate, as measured from far-infrared flux ratios. Stronger bars host smaller nuclear rings, but the strength of the bar does not correlate with either the intrinsic ellipticity of the ring or the offset between the position angles of the bar and the ring. We interpret these results in comparison with modelling of gas inflow in the circumnuclear region, and show that they were theoretically expected. We confirm observationally, and for the first time, the anti-correlation predicted from theory and modelling between the degree of curvature of the bar dust lanes and the strength of the bar, where stronger bars have straighter dust lanes., Comment: MNRAS, in press. 16 pages latex, contains 11 postscript figures. Figures 1 and 2 are in jpeg format

LOTIS (Livermore Optical Transient Imaging System) and Super-LOTIS are automatic telescope systems that measure very prompt optical emission occurring within seconds of the gamma-ray energy release during a Gamma Ray Burst (GRB). Unlike hour-to-days delayed afterglow measurements, very early measurements will contain information about the GRB progenitor. To accomplish this, we developed and have been operating automated telescopes that rapidly image GRB coordinate error boxes in response to triggers distributed by the GRB Coordinate Distribution Network (GCN). LOTIS, located in California, consists of 4 cameras each with a different astronomical filter (B, V, R, open) that can respond to GRB triggers within 5 s. Super-LOTIS can point to any part of the sky within 30 s upon receipt of a GCN trigger and its sensitivity is as deep as V = 17-19 depending on the integration times. Since the shutdown of the CGRO, there has been no real-time GRE3 triggers that enable the LOTIS systems to measure real-time GRE3 counterpart fluxes as of May 2001. This paper describes performance of these systems. We also present our plan to replace the current optical CCD camera on the Super-LOTIS to a near infrared camera to be able to probe dusty GRB environment.