Unveiling Star-forming Galaxies through GRB Afterglow
Absorption-line Observations
Hsiao-Wen Chen (UChicago)
Long-duration gamma-ray bursts originate in the catastrophic
death of massive stars. Optical afterglows immediately following these
bursting events are therefore signposts of distant star-forming galaxies
that are otherwise difficult to uncover. I will discuss constraints on
the host interstellar medium obtained from rapid spectroscopic follow-up
of optical afterglows.