61 research outputs found
The Spectrum and Dips of RE 0751+14: A joint evaluation of ROSAT and ASCA Archival Data
Using archival ASCA and ROSAT observations of RE 0751+14, X-ray energy
spectra, pulse profiles and the results of pulse timing analysis are presented.
The energy spectra are well-fitted by a blackbody model at low energy and a
Raymond-Smith model at high energy, together with a partial covering absorber.
A fluorescence emission line at 6.4 keV with an equivalent width eV
was resolved for the first time.Comment: To appear on Astrophysics and Space Science, vol 259, pages 191-203,
January 199
The Dark Side of ROTSE-III Prompt GRB Observations
We present several cases of optical observations during gamma-ray bursts
(GRBs) which resulted in prompt limits but no detection of optical emission.
These limits constrain the prompt optical flux densities and the optical
brightness relative to the gamma-ray emission. The derived constraints fall
within the range of properties observed in GRBs with prompt optical detections,
though at the faint end of optical/gamma flux ratios. The presently accessible
prompt optical limits do not require a different set of intrinsic or
environmental GRB properties, relative to the events with prompt optical
detections.Comment: ApJ accepted. 20 pages in draft manuscript form, which includes 6
pages of tables and 2 figure
Prompt Optical Detection of GRB 050401 with ROTSE-IIIa
The ROTSE-IIIa telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, detected
prompt optical emission from Swift GRB 050401. In this letter, we present
observations of the early optical afterglow, first detected by the ROTSE-IIIa
telescope 33 s after the start of gamma-ray emission, contemporaneous with the
brightest peak of this emission. This GRB was neither exceptionally long nor
bright. This is the first prompt optical detection of a GRB of typical duration
and luminosity. We find that the early afterglow decay does not deviate
significantly from the power-law decay observable at later times, and is
uncorrelated with the prompt gamma-ray emission. We compare this detection with
the other two GRBs with prompt observations, GRB 990123 and GRB 041219a. All
three bursts exhibit quite different behavior at early times.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Status of the ROTSE-III telescope network
ROTSE-III is a homogeneous worldwide array of 4 robotic telescopes. They were designed to provide optical observations of Îł-ray burst (GRB) afterglows as close as possible to the start of Îł-ray emission. ROTSE-III is fulfilling its potential for GRB science, and provides optical observations for a variety of astrophysical sources in the interim between GRB events
The Anomalous Early Afterglow of GRB 050801
The ROTSE-IIIc telescope at the H.E.S.S. site, Namibia, obtained the earliest
detection of optical emission from a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), beginning only 21.8
s from the onset of Swift GRB 050801. The optical lightcurve does not fade or
brighten significantly over the first ~250 s, after which there is an
achromatic break and the lightcurve declines in typical power-law fashion. The
Swift/XRT also obtained early observations starting at 69 s after the burst
onset. The X-ray lightcurve shows the same features as the optical lightcurve.
These correlated variations in the early optical and X-ray emission imply a
common origin in space and time. This behavior is difficult to reconcile with
the standard models of early afterglow emission.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Optical Lightcurve & Cooling Break of GRB 050502A
We present lightcurves of the afterglow of GRB050502A, including very early
data at t-t_{GRB} < 60s. The lightcurve is composed of unfiltered ROTSE-IIIb
optical observations from 44s to 6h post-burst, R-band MDM observations from
1.6 to 8.4h post-burst, and PAIRITEL J H K_s observations from 0.6 to 2.6h
post-burst. The optical lightcurve is fit by a broken power law, where
t^{alpha} steepens from alpha = -1.13 +- 0.02 to alpha = -1.44 +- 0.02 at
\~5700s. This steepening is consistent with the evolution expected for the
passage of the cooling frequency nu_c through the optical band. Even in our
earliest observation at 44s post-burst, there is no evidence that the optical
flux is brighter than a backward extrapolation of the later power law would
suggest. The observed decay indices and spectral index are consistent with
either an ISM or a Wind fireball model, but slightly favor the ISM
interpretation. The expected spectral index in the ISM interpretation is
consistent within 1 sigma with the observed spectral index beta = -0.8 +- 0.1;
the Wind interpretation would imply a slightly (~2 sigma) shallower spectral
index than observed. A small amount of dust extinction at the source redshift
could steepen an intrinsic spectrum sufficiently to account for the observed
value of beta. In this picture, the early optical decay, with the peak at or
below 4.7e14 Hz at 44s, requires very small electron and magnetic energy
partitions from the fireball.Comment: 22 pages, including 3 tables and 1 figure, Accepted by Ap
The Optical Luminosity Function of Gamma-ray Bursts deduced from ROTSE-III Observations
We present the optical luminosity function (LF) of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)
estimated from a uniform sample of 58 GRBs from observations with the Robotic
Optical Transient Search Experiment III (ROTSE-III). Our GRB sample is divided
into two sub-samples: detected afterglows (18 GRBs), and those with upper
limits (40 GRBs). The band fluxes 100s after the onset of the burst for
these two sub-samples are derived. The optical LFs at 100s are fitted by
assuming that the co-moving GRB rate traces the star-formation rate. The
detection function of ROTSE-III is taken into account during the fitting of the
optical LFs by using Monte Carlo simulations. We find that the cumulative
distribution of optical emission at 100s is well-described with an exponential
rise and power-law decay (ERPLD), broken power-law (BPL), and Schechter LFs. A
single power-law (SPL) LF, on the other hand, is ruled out with high
confidence.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, ApJ accepte
Exploring Broadband GRB Behavior During gamma-ray Emission
The robotic ROTSE-III telescope network detected prompt optical emission
contemporaneous with the gamma-ray emission of Swift events GRB051109A and
GRB051111. Both datasets have continuous coverage at high signal-to-noise
levels from the prompt phase onwards, thus the early observations are readily
compared to the Swift XRT and BAT high energy detections. In both cases, the
optical afterglow is established, declining steadily during the prompt
emission. For GRB051111, there is evidence of an excess optical component
during the prompt emission. The component is consistent with the flux
spectrally extrapolated from the gamma-rays, using the gamma-ray spectral
index. A compilation of spectral information from previous prompt detections
shows that such a component is unusual. The existence of two prompt optical
components - one connected to the high-energy emission, the other to separate
afterglow flux, as indicated in GRB051111 - is not compatible with a simple
``external-external'' shock model for the GRB and its afterglow.Comment: ApJ accepted. 32 pages (in preprint form), 5 tables, 5 figure
The LOFT mission concept: a status update
The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) is a mission concept which was proposed to ESA as M3 and M4 candidate in the framework of the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument and the uniquely large field of view of its wide field monitor, LOFT will be able to study the behaviour of matter in extreme conditions such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions close to black holes and neutron stars and the supra-nuclear densities in the interiors of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, >8m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1 degree collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g., GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the current technical and programmatic status of the mission
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