Comment on: Protecting Life in the Milky Way: Metals Keep the GRBs Away by Stanek et al
Abstract
Description
Stanek et al. (astro-ph/0604113) have noted that the four low-redshift long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LSB) observed to date all occurred in faint, metal-poor galaxies. Given this selection, they argue that it is improbable that there has been a substantial population of Milky Way galaxy bursts sufficiently recently to affect life on Earth. This argument ignores the heterogeneity of stellar populations in the Milky Way, with evidence for continuing mergers with low-metallicity dwarf galaxies; observational analysis that points to LSBs being hosted by such galaxies undergoing interaction; and the existence of a likely recent GRB remnant in our galaxy.