Dr. Daniel Reichart, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will undertake a research and educational program to study gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. Recent work indicates that GRBs result from the deaths of massive stars, during their transition to black holes. They are the greatest explosions seen since the Big Bang, surpassing even supernovae explosions. Using a variety of telescopes, the PI will obtain well-sampled data at both early and intermediate times after the explosions, in both the optical and near-infrared wavelengths. The purpose of the research is to use GRBs to probe the early universe, and improve our understanding of GRB physics, their environments, and establish how diverse or uniform these events are. The PI will utilize much of the time on project telescopes for educational activities, in conjunction with the "NC PROMPT COLLABORATION", a collection of ten undergraduate institutions (including historically African-American and Native-American ones), and Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.
