Simulating observations of GRB afterglows

These are simulations of an individual gamma-ray burst afterglow (in the \(r\) band) over a range of viewing angles from the jet axis. The shape and brightness of the afterglow depends on if the afterglow is within the jet axis or not (\(\theta_{obs} / \theta_{core} \gtrless 1\)). I used these light curves along with the limiting magnitudes and cadences of LSST and ZTF to derive the expected detection rates of off-axis afterglows with each observatory as well as the viability of modeling these afterglows without knowing the time of the GRB explosion - as expected for some off-axis afterglows.