A review of gamma ray bursts

Gamma-ray bursts have continued to puzzle astronomers since their discovery thirty years ago. The sources and emission mechanisms are still uncertain. The instruments on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, most notably BATSE, have produced a revolution in our understanding of bursts. BATSE found that the burst spatial distribution was isotropic but inhomogeneous, a result inconsistent with any disk population of sources. The currently favored model is one in which the sources lie at cosmological distances. Recent apparent successes in the detection of X-ray and optical counterparts have generated renewed excitement.