A Search for Early Optical Emission at Gamma-Ray Burst Locations by the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI)

The Astrophysical Journal 637, 880−888, 2006

A Search for Early Optical Emission at Gamma-Ray Burst Locations by the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI)

Andrew Buffington
Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0424, USA

David L. Band
GLAST SSC, Code 661, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Joint Center for Astrophysics, Physics Dep., Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA

B.V. Jackson, P. Paul Hick and Aaron C. Smith
Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0424, USA

Abstract

The Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) views nearly every point on the sky once every 102 minutes and can detect point sources as faint as R~10^th magnitude. Therefore, SMEI can detect or provide upper limits for the optical afterglow from gamma-ray bursts in the tens of minutes after the burst when different shocked regions may emit optically. Here we provide uppper limits for 58 bursts between 2003 February and 2005 April