The late peaking afterglow of GRB 100418A

GRB 100418A is a long gamma-ray burst (GRB) at redshift z = 0.6235 discovered with the Swift Gamma-ray Burst Explorer with unusual optical and X-ray light curves. After an initial short-lived, rapid decline in X-rays, the optical and X-ray light curves observed with Swift are approximately flat or rising slightly out to at least ~7 × 10[superscript: 3] s after the trigger, peak at ~5 × 10[superscript: 4] s, and then follow an approximately power-law decay. Such a long optical plateau and late peaking is rarely seen in GRB afterglows. Observations with Rapid Eye Mount during a gap in the Swift coverage indicate a bright optical flare at ~2.5 × 10[superscript: 4] s. The long plateau phase of the afterglow is interpreted using either a model with continuous injection of energy into the forward shock of the burst or a model in which the jet of the burst is viewed off-axis. In both models the isotropic kinetic energy in the late afterglow after the plateau phase is ≥10[superscript: 2] times the 10[superscript: 51] erg of the prompt isotropic gamma-ray energy release. The energy injection model is favored because the off-axis jet model would require the intrinsic T [subscript: 90] for the GRB jet viewed on-axis to be very short, ~10 ms, and the intrinsic isotropic gamma-ray energy release and the true jet energy to be much higher than the typical values of known short GRBs. The non-detection of a jet break up to t ~ 2 × 10[superscript: 6] s indicates a jet half-opening angle of at least ~14°, and a relatively high-collimation-corrected jet energy of E [subscript: jet] ≥ 10[superscript: 52] erg

Anatomy of a dark burst - The afterglow of GRB 060108

We present a multiwavelength study of GRB 060108 – the 100th gamma-ray burst discovered by Swift. The X-ray flux and light curve (three segments plus a flare) detected with the X-ray Telescope are typical of Swift long bursts. We report the discovery of a faint optical afterglow detected in deep BVRi′-band imaging obtained with the Faulkes Telescope North beginning 2.75 min after the burst. The afterglow is below the detection limit of the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope within 100 s of the burst, while is evident in K-band images taken with the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope 45 min after the burst. The optical light curve is sparsely sampled. Observations taken in the R and i′ bands can be fitted either with a single power-law decay in flux, F(t) ∝t−α where α= 0.43 ± 0.08, or with a two-segment light curve with an initial steep decay α1 < 0.88 ± 0.2, flattening to a slope α2∼ 0.31 ± 0.12. A marginal evidence for rebrightening is seen in the i′ band. Deep R-band imaging obtained ∼12 d post-burst with the Very Large Telescope reveals a faint, extended object (R∼ 23.5 mag) at the location of the afterglow. Although the brightness is compatible with the extrapolation of the slow decay with index α2, significant flux is likely due to a host galaxy. This implies that the optical light curve had a break before 12 d, akin to what observed in the X-rays. We derive the maximum photometric redshift z < 3.2 for GRB 060108. We find that the spectral energy distribution at 1000 s after the burst, from the optical to the X-ray range, is best fitted by a simple power law, Fν∝ν−β, with βOX= 0.54 and a small amount of extinction. The optical to X-ray spectral index (βOX) confirms GRB 060108 to be one of the optically darkest bursts detected. Our observations rule out a high redshift as the reason for the optical faintness of GRB 060108. We conclude that a more likely explanation is a combination of an intrinsic optical faintness of the burst, a hard optical to X-ray spectrum and a moderate amount of extinction in the host galaxy

ALMA and GMRT Constraints on the Off-axis Gamma-Ray Burst 170817A from the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817

Binary neutron-star mergers (BNSMs) are among the most readily detectable gravitational-wave (GW) sources with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). They are also thought to produce short γ-ray bursts (SGRBs) and kilonovae that are powered by r-process nuclei. Detecting these phenomena simultaneously would provide an unprecedented view of the physics during and after the merger of two compact objects. Such a Rosetta Stone event was detected by LIGO/Virgo on 2017 August 17 at a distance of ∼44 Mpc. We monitored the position of the BNSM with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at 338.5 GHz and the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 1.4 GHz, from 1.4 to 44 days after the merger. Our observations rule out any afterglow more luminous than ´ - - 3 10 erg s Hz 26 1 1 in these bands, probing >2–4 dex fainter than previous SGRB limits. We match these limits, in conjunction with public data announcing the appearance of X-ray and radio emission in the weeks after the GW event, to templates of off-axis afterglows. Our broadband modeling suggests that GW170817 was accompanied by an SGRB and that the γ-ray burst (GRB) jet, powered by EAG,iso ~ 1050 erg, had a half-opening angle of ~20, and was misaligned by ~41 from our line of sight. The data are also consistent with a more collimated jet: EAG,iso ~ 1051 erg, q1 2,jet obs ~ ~ 5 , 17 q . This is the most conclusive detection of an off-axis GRB afterglow and the first associated with a BNSM-GW event to date. We use the viewing angle estimates to infer the initial bulk Lorentz factor and true energy release of the burst

Discovery of the nearby long, soft GRB100316D with an associated supernova

We report the Swift discovery of the nearby long, soft gamma-ray burst GRB 100316D, and the subsequent unveiling of its low-redshift host galaxy and associated supernova. We derive the redshift of the event to be z= 0.0591 ± 0.0001 and provide accurate astrometry for the gamma-ray burst (GRB) supernova (SN). We study the extremely unusual prompt emission with time-resolved γ-ray to X-ray spectroscopy and find that the spectrum is best modelled with a thermal component in addition to a synchrotron emission component with a low peak energy. The X-ray light curve has a remarkably shallow decay out to at least 800 s. The host is a bright, blue galaxy with a highly disturbed morphology and we use Gemini-South, Very Large Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope observations to measure some of the basic host galaxy properties. We compare and contrast the X-ray emission and host galaxy of GRB 100316D to a subsample of GRB-SNe. GRB 100316D is unlike the majority of GRB-SNe in its X-ray evolution, but resembles rather GRB 060218, and we find that these two events have remarkably similar high energy prompt emission properties. Comparison of the host galaxies of GRB-SNe demonstrates, however, that there is a great diversity in the environments in which GRB-SNe can be found. GRB 100316D is an important addition to the currently sparse sample of spectroscopically confirmed GRB-SNe, from which a better understanding of long GRB progenitors and the GRB-SN connection can be gleaned