We describe and discuss the global properties of 45 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed by HETE-2 during the first three years of its mission, focusing on the properties of X-Ray Flashes (XRFs) and X-ray-rich GRBs (XRRs). We find that the numbers of XRFs, XRRs, and GRBs are comparable. We find that the

We report on our early photometric and spectroscopic observations of the extremely luminous Type II supernova (SN) 2008es. With an observed peak optical magnitude of m V = 17.8 and at a redshift z = 0.213, SN 2008es had a peak absolute magnitude of M V = −22.3, making it the second most luminous SN ever observed. The photometric evolution of SN 2008es exhibits a fast decline rate (∼0.042 mag d −1 ), similar to the extremely luminous Type II-L SN 2005ap. We show that SN 2008es spectroscopically resembles the luminous Type II-L SN 1979C. Although the spectra of SN 2008es lack the narrow and intermediate-width line emission typically associated with the interaction of a SN with the circumstellar medium of its progenitor star, we argue that the extreme luminosity of SN 2008es is powered via strong interaction with a dense, optically thick circumstellar medium. The integrated bolometric luminosity of SN 2008es yields a total radiated energy at ultraviolet and optical wavelengths of 10 51 ergs. Finally, we examine the apparently anomalous rate at which the Texas Supernova Search has discovered rare kinds of supernovae, including the five most luminous supernovae observed to date, and find that their results are consistent with those of other modern SN searches.

Abstract. We present a spectral analysis of 35 GRBs detected with the HETE-2 gamma-ray detectors (the FREGATE instrument) in the energy range 7-400 keV. The GRB sample analyzed is made of GRBs localized with the Wide Field X-ray Monitor onboard HETE-2 or with the GRB Interplanetary Network. We derive the spectral parameters of the time-integrated spectra, and present the distribution of the low-energy photon index, alpha, and of the peak energy, E p . We then discuss the existence and nature of the recently discovered X-Ray Flashes and their relationship with classical GRBs.

We report High Energy Transient Explorer 2 (HETE-2) Wide Field X-Ray Monitor/French Gamma Telescope observations of the X-ray flash XRF 020903. This event was extremely soft: the ratio log ðS X =S Þ ¼ 0:7, where S X and S are the fluences in the 2-30 and 30-400 keV energy bands, is the most extreme value observed so far by HETE-2. In addition, the spectrum has an observed peak energy of E obs peak < 5:0 keV (99.7% probability upper limit), and no photons were detected above $10 keV. The burst is shorter at higher energies, which is similar to the behavior of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We consider the possibility that the burst lies at very high redshift and that the low value of E obs peak is due to the cosmological redshift, and show that this is very unlikely. We find that the properties of XRF 020903 are consistent with the relation between the fluences S(7-30 keV) and S(30-400 keV), found by Barraud et al. for GRBs and X-ray-rich GRBs, and are consistent with the extension by a decade of the hardness-intensity correlation found by the same authors. Assuming that XRF 020903 lies at a redshift z ¼ 0:25, as implied by the host galaxy of the candidate optical and radio afterglows of this burst, we find that the properties of XRF 020903 are consistent with an extension by a factor $300 of the relation between the isotropic-equivalent energy E iso and the peak E peak of the F spectrum (in the source frame of the burst) found by Amati et al. for GRBs. The results presented in this paper therefore provide evidence that X-ray flashes (XRFs), X-ray-rich GRBs, and GRBs form a continuum and are a single phenomenon. The results also impose strong constraints on models of XRFs and X-ray-rich GRBs.