scholarly journals Quick Observations of the Fading X-Rays from Gamma-Ray Bursts with ASCA

1998 ◽  
Vol 188 ◽  
pp. 171-174
Author(s):  
T. Murakami ◽  
Y. Ueda ◽  
R. Fujimoto ◽  
M. Ishida ◽  
R. Shibata ◽  
...  

Since the discovery of fading X-rays from Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) with BeppoSAX (Piro et al. 1997, Costa et al. 1997), world-wide follow-up observations in optical band have achieved the fruitful results. The case of GRB 970228, there was an optical transient, coincides with the BeppoSAX position and faded (Paradijs et al. 1997, Sahu et al. 1997). These optical observations also confirmed the extended component, which was associated with the optical transient. The new transient are fading with a power-law function in time and the later observation of HST confirmed the extended emission is stable (Fruchter et al. 1997). This extended object seems to be a distant galaxy and strongly suggests to be the host.

Author(s):  
MICHEL BOËR

The prompt emission of gamma-ray burst sources is still the main means of detection, and a privilegied access to the souce dynamics. It is detected from radio to GeV energies, and its study is crucial for the overall understanding of the phenomenom. We present here a panorama of the rapid optical observations, and what can be infered from the data. We will discuss also the new instruments which are planned for the observation of the prompt and early afterglow at optical and infrared wavelengths, with spectral capabilities.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (S279) ◽  
pp. 387-388
Author(s):  
Yoshihiko Saito ◽  
Yoichi Yatsu ◽  
Hideya Nakajima ◽  
Nobuyuki Kawai ◽  
Katsuaki Asano ◽  
...  

AbstractWe review the results of very early phase optical follow-up observations of recent gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with the multi-color optical telescopes “MITSuME”. The MITSuME telescopes were designed to perform “real time” and “automatic” follow-up observations prompted by the GCN alerts via the Internet. The rapidly slewing equatorial mounts allow MITSuME to start photometric observations within 100 seconds after the trigger for several GRBs. In particular, we detected a brightening just after the trigger for two GRBs. These phenomena could be interpreted as the “on-set” of afterglow. In this paper we summarize these optical observations with a brief interpretation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 628 ◽  
pp. A59 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Oganesyan ◽  
L. Nava ◽  
G. Ghirlanda ◽  
A. Melandri ◽  
A. Celotti

Information on the spectral shape of prompt emission in gamma-ray bursts (GRB) is mostly available only at energies ≳10 keV, where the main instruments for GRB detection are sensitive. The origin of this emission is still very uncertain because of the apparent inconsistency with synchrotron radiation, which is the most obvious candidate, and the resulting need for considering less straightforward scenarios. The inclusion of data down to soft X-rays (∼0.5 keV), which are available only in a small fraction of GRBs, has firmly established the common presence of a spectral break in the low-energy part of prompt spectra, and even more importantly, the consistency of the overall spectral shape with synchrotron radiation in the moderately fast-cooling regime, the low-energy break being identified with the cooling frequency. In this work we further extend the range of investigation down to the optical band. In particular, we test the synchrotron interpretation by directly fitting a theoretically derived synchrotron spectrum and making use of optical to gamma-ray data. Secondly, we test an alternative model that considers the presence of a black-body component at ∼keV energies, in addition to a non-thermal component that is responsible for the emission at the spectral peak (100 keV–1 MeV). We find that synchrotron radiation provides a good description of the broadband data, while models composed of a thermal and a non-thermal component require the introduction of a low-energy break in the non-thermal component in order to be consistent with optical observations. Motivated by the good quality of the synchrotron fits, we explore the physical parameter space of the emitting region. In a basic prompt emission scenario we find quite contrived solutions for the magnetic field strength (5 G < B′< 40 G) and for the location of the region where the radiation is produced (Rγ >  1016 cm). We discuss which assumptions of the basic model would need to be relaxed in order to achieve a more natural parameter space.


2001 ◽  
Vol 183 ◽  
pp. 155-156
Author(s):  
Yuji Urata ◽  
Nobuyuki Kawai ◽  
Atsumasa Yoshida ◽  
Mitsuhiro Kohama ◽  
Tetsuya Kawabata ◽  
...  

AbstractWe are constructing a fully automatic observation system named RIBOTS (RIken-Bisei Optical Transient Seeker). We aim to detect optical flashes and early afterglows of Gamma-ray bursts (GRB) with RIBOTS. We are constructing RIBOTS with a small telescope because a quick pointing to the burst is essential for our purpose. RIBOTS is linked to the GRB alert system provided by the HETE-2 satellite.


2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (09) ◽  
pp. 1311-1317
Author(s):  
NEIL GEHRELS

The Swift mission, launched on 20 November 2004, is detecting ~ 100 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) each year, and immediately (within ~ 90 s) starting X-ray and UV/optical observations of the afterglow. It has already collected an impressive database including prompt emission to higher sensitivities than BATSE, uniform monitoring of afterglows, and rapid follow-up by other observatories notified through the Gamma-ray bursts Coordinates Network (GCN). The X-ray afterglows have been found to have complex temporal shapes including tails emission from the prompt phase and bright flares. X-ray and optical afterglow detections from short bursts have led to accurate localizations. It is found that they can occur in non-star forming galaxies or regions, whereas long GRBs are strongly concentrated within star forming regions. This is consistent with the NS merger model. Swift has greatly increased the redshift range of GRB detection. The highest redshift GRBs, at z ~ 5-6, are approaching the era of reionization. Ground-based deep optical spectroscopy of high redshift bursts is giving metallicity measurements and other information on the source environment to much greater distance than other techniques. The localization of GRB 060218 in a nearby galaxy, and association with SN 2006aj, added a valuable member to the class of GRBs with detected supernova. The prospects for future progress are excellent given the > 10 year orbital lifetime of the Swift satellite.


Author(s):  
Neil Gehrels

Since its launch on 20 November 2004, the Swift mission has been detecting approximately 100 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) each year, and immediately (within approx. 90 s) starting simultaneous X-ray and UV/optical observations of the afterglow. It has already collected an impressive database, including prompt emission to higher sensitivities than BATSE, uniform monitoring of afterglows and a rapid follow-up by other observatories notified through the GCN. Advances in our understanding of short GRBs have been spectacular. The detection of X-ray afterglows has led to accurate localizations and the conclusion that short GRBs can occur in non-star-forming galaxies or regions, whereas long GRBs are strongly concentrated within the star-forming regions. This is consistent with the NS merger model. Swift has greatly increased the redshift range of GRB detection. The highest redshift GRBs, at z ∼5–6, are approaching the era of reionization. Ground-based deep optical spectroscopy of high redshift bursts is giving metallicity measurements and other information on the source environment to a much greater distance than other techniques. The localization of GRB 060218 to a nearby galaxy, and the association with SN 2006aj, added a valuable member to the class of GRBs with detected supernova.


2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Chiang ◽  
J. L. Racusin ◽  
J. E. McEnery ◽  
J. L. Racusin ◽  
N. Gehrels ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 789 (2) ◽  
pp. 145 ◽  
Author(s):  
You-Dong Hu ◽  
En-Wei Liang ◽  
Shao-Qiang Xi ◽  
Fang-Kun Peng ◽  
Rui-Jing Lu ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 492 (3) ◽  
pp. 3622-3630
Author(s):  
Lin Lan ◽  
Rui-Jingi Lu ◽  
Hou-Jun Lü ◽  
Jun Shen ◽  
Jared Rice ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Short gamma-ray bursts (GRB) with extended emission (EE) that are composed of an initial short hard spike followed by a long-lasting EE are thought to comprise a sucategory of short GRBs. The narrow energy band available during the Swift era, combined with a lack of spectral information, prevented the discovery of the intrinsic properties of these events. In this paper, we perform a systematic search of short GRBs with EE using all available Fermi/GBM data. The search identified 26 GBM-detected short GRBs with EE that are similar to GRB 060614 observed by Swift/BAT. We focus on investigating the spectral and temporal properties of both the hard spike and the EE component of all 26 GRBs, and explore differences and possible correlations between them. We find that while the peak energy (Ep) of the hard spikes is slightly harder than that of the EE, their fluences are comparable. The harder Ep seems to correspond to a larger fluence and peak flux, with a large scatter for both the hard spike and the EE component. Moreover, the Ep of both the hard spike and the EE are compared with other short GRBs. Finally, we also compare the properties of GRB 170817A with those of short GRBs with EE and find no significant statistical differences between them. We find that GRB 170817A has the lowest Ep, probably because it is off-axis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 495 (4) ◽  
pp. 4782-4799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brendan O’Connor ◽  
Paz Beniamini ◽  
Chryssa Kouveliotou

ABSTRACT Observational follow up of well localized short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) has left $20\!-\!30{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the population without a coincident host galaxy association to deep optical and NIR limits (≳26 mag). These SGRBs have been classified as observationally hostless due to their lack of strong host associations. It has been argued that these hostless SGRBs could be an indication of the large distances traversed by the binary neutron star system (due to natal kicks) between its formation and its merger (leading to an SGRB). The distances of GRBs from their host galaxies can be indirectly probed by the surrounding circumburst densities. We show that a lower limit on those densities can be obtained from early afterglow light curves. We find that ${\lesssim}16{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of short GRBs in our sample took place at densities ≲10−4 cm−3. These densities represent the expected range of values at distances greater than the host galaxy’s virial radii. We find that out of the five SGRBs in our sample that have been found to be observationally hostless, none are consistent with having occurred beyond the virial radius of their birth galaxies. This implies one of two scenarios. Either these observationally hostless SGRBs occurred outside of the half-light radius of their host galaxy, but well within the galactic halo, or in host galaxies at moderate to high redshifts (z ≳ 2) that were missed by follow-up observations.


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