Luminous Galaxies near Gamma-Ray Burst Positions

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Abstract
The isotropic, inhomogeneous distribution of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) suggests a cosmological origin. We are performing a deep J (1.25 μm), H (1.65 μm), and K' (2.11 μm) imaging survey of the smallest GRB error boxes from the third Interplanetary Network to examine the extragalactic content of these regions. Relatively bright galaxies are seen in each of six GRB error boxes imaged to date. It is shown that the "no-host" problem does not exist in our sample. In addition, there is an apparent overabundance of brighter galaxies in these fields, which suggests a connection between galaxies and gamma-ray bursts.