IDENTIFICATION OF 2 CLASSES OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

We have studied the duration distribution of the gamma-ray bursts of t he first BATSE catalog. We find a bimodality in the distribution, whic h separates GRBs into two classes: short events (<2 s) and longer ones (>2 s). Both sets are distributed isotropically and inhomogeneously i n the sky. We find that their durations are anticorrelated with their spectral hardness ratios: short GRBs are predominantly harder, and lon ger ones tend to be softer. Our results provide a first GRB classifica tion scheme based on a combination of the GRB temporal and spectral pr operties.