Gamma-ray Bursts (GRBs) are among the brightest and most energetic events in the Universe. There are 2 classifications of these events: Long GRBs (LGRBs) linked with the end states of very massive stars in which the duration of the gamma burst is longer than 2 seconds, and Short GRBs (SGRBs) linked to the mergers of compact objects in which the duration of the gamma burst is two seconds or less. GRB 200826A was detected in August of 2020 and classified as a SGRB. Using the Multi-Object Double Spectrographs (MODS), LBT was the first telescope in the world to determine the event occurred in a galaxy 6.6 billion lightyears away. LBTO staff astronomers working with colleagues in Italy continued to monitor the optical properties of the event. In a series of followup observations, the team used the second generation Single conjugate adaptive Optics Upgrade for LBTO (SOUL) in combination with the LBT Utility Camera in the Infrared (LUCI) to pinpoint the location of the event within the galaxy. as well as measure the size, shape, and mass of the system. This was the first time AO had been used to obtain such detailed information on both the GRB event and the host galaxy. The results from MODS and LUCI-AO demonstrated that GRB 2000826A was the shortest ever GRB event triggered by a supernova, challenging the standard paradigm for SGRB and LGRB progenitors.

Published in the Astrophysical Journal Volume 932 Number 1
A. Rossi, B. Rothberg, E. Palazzi,D. A. Kann, P. D’Avanzo, L. Amati, S. Klose, A. Perego, E. Pian, Guidorzi, A. S. Pozanenko, S. Savaglio, G. Stratta, G. Agapito, S. Covino, F. Cusano, V. D’Elia, M. De Pasquale, M. Della Valle,O. Kuhn, L. Izzo, E. Loffredo,N. Masetti, A. Melandri,P. Y. Minaev,A. Nicuesa Guelbenzu, D. Paris, S. Paiano, C. Plantet, F. Rossi, R. Salvaterra, S. Schulze C. Veillet, and A. A. Volnova