The case for a minute-long merger-driven gamma-ray burst from fast-cooling synchrotron emission

For decades, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been broadly divided into long- and short-duration bursts, lasting more or less than 2 s, respectively. However, this dichotomy does not perfectly map to the two progenitor channels that are known to produce GRBs: mergers of compact objects (merger GRBs) or the collapse of massive stars (collapsar GRBs). In particular, the merger GRB population may also include bursts with a short, hard <2 s spike and subsequent longer, softer extended emission. The recent discovery of a kilonova—the radioactive glow of heavy elements made in neutron star mergers—in the 50-s-duration GRB 211211A further demonstrates that mergers can drive long, complex GRBs that mimic the collapsar population. Here we present a detailed temporal and spectral analysis of the high-energy emission of GRB 211211A. We demonstrate that the emission has a purely synchrotron origin, with both the peak and cooling frequencies moving through the γ-ray band down to X-rays, and that the rapidly evolving spectrum drives the extended emission signature at late times. The identification of such spectral evolution in a merger GRB opens avenues to diagnostics of the progenitor type

VLBI observations of GRB 201015A, a relatively faint GRB with a hint of very high-energy gamma-ray emission

Context. A total of four long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been confirmed at very high-energy (≥100GeV) with high significance, and any possible peculiarities of these bursts will become clearer as the number of detected events increases. Multi-wavelength follow-up campaigns are required to extract information on the physical conditions within the jets that lead to the very high-energy counterpart, hence they are crucial to reveal the properties of this class of bursts. Aims. GRB 201015A is a long-duration GRB detected using the MAGIC telescopes from ~40 s after the burst. If confirmed, this would be the fifth and least luminous GRB ever detected at these energies. The goal of this work is to constrain the global and microphysical parameters of its afterglow phase, and to discuss the main properties of this burst in a broader context. Methods. Since the radio band, together with frequent optical and X-ray observations, proved to be a fundamental tool for overcoming the degeneracy in the afterglow modelling, we performed a radio follow-up of GRB 201015A over 12 different epochs, from 1.4 days (2020 October 17) to 117 days (2021 February 9) post-burst, with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, e-MERLIN, and the European VLBI Network. We include optical and X-ray observations, performed respectively with the Multiple Mirror Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, together with publicly available data, in order to build multi-wavelength light curves and to compare them with the standard fireball model. Results. We detected a point-like transient, consistent with the position of GRB 201015A until 23 and 47 days post-burst at 1.5 and 5 GHz, respectively. No emission was detected in subsequent radio observations. The source was also detected in optical (1.4 and 2.2 days post-burst) and in X-ray (8.4 and 13.6 days post-burst) observations. Conclusions. The multi-wavelength afterglow light curves can be explained with the standard model for a GRB seen on-axis, which expands and decelerates into a medium with a homogeneous density. A circumburst medium with a wind-like profile is disfavoured. Notwithstanding the high resolution provided by the VLBI, we could not pinpoint any expansion or centroid displacement of the outflow. If the GRB is seen at the viewing angle θ that maximises the apparent velocity βapp (i.e. θ ~ βapp-1), we estimate that the Lorentz factor for the possible proper motion is Гα ≤ 40 in right ascension and Гδ ≤ 61 in declination. On the other hand, if the GRB is seen on-axis, the size of the afterglow is ≤5pc and ≤16pc at 25 and 47 days. Finally, the early peak in the optical light curve suggests the presence of a reverse shock component before 0.01 days from the burst

A long-duration gamma-ray burst of dynamical origin from the nucleus of an ancient galaxy

The majority of long-duration (>2 s) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) arise from the collapse of massive stars, with a small proportion created from the merger of compact objects. Most of these systems form via standard stellar evolution pathways. However, a fraction of GRBs may result from dynamical interactions in dense environments. These channels could also contribute substantially to the samples of compact object mergers detected as gravitational wave sources. Here we report the case of GRB 191019A, a long GRB (a duration of T 90 = 64.4 ± 4.5 s), which we pinpoint close (⪅100 pc projected) to the nucleus of an ancient (>1 Gyr old) host galaxy at z = 0.248. The lack of evidence for star formation and deep limits on any supernova emission disfavour a massive star origin. The most likely route for progenitor formation is via dynamical interactions in the dense nucleus of the host. The progenitor, in this case, could be a compact object merger. These may form in dense nuclear clusters or originate in a gaseous disc around the supermassive black hole. Identifying, to the best of our knowledge, a first example of a dynamically produced GRB demonstrates the role that such bursts may have in probing dense environments and constraining dynamical fractions in gravitational wave populations

A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are divided into two populations1,2; long GRBs that derive from the core collapse of massive stars (for example, ref. 3) and short GRBs that form in the merger of two compact objects4,5. Although it is common to divide the two populations at a gamma-ray duration of 2 s, classification based on duration does not always map to the progenitor. Notably, GRBs with short (≲2 s) spikes of prompt gamma-ray emission followed by prolonged, spectrally softer extended emission (EE-SGRBs) have been suggested to arise from compact object mergers6-8. Compact object mergers are of great astrophysical importance as the only confirmed site of rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis, observed in the form of so-called kilonovae9-14. Here we report the discovery of a possible kilonova associated with the nearby (350 Mpc), minute-duration GRB 211211A. The kilonova implies that the progenitor is a compact object merger, suggesting that GRBs with long, complex light curves can be spawned from merger events. The kilonova of GRB 211211A has a similar luminosity, duration and colour to that which accompanied the gravitational wave (GW)-detected binary neutron star (BNS) merger GW170817 (ref. 4). Further searches for GW signals coincident with long GRBs are a promising route for future multi-messenger astronomy

The first JWST spectrum of a GRB afterglow: No bright supernova in observations of the brightest GRB of all time, GRB 221009A

International audienceWe present JWST and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the afterglow of GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever observed. Observations obtained with NIRSPEC (0.6-5.5 micron) and MIRI (5-12 micron) 12 days after the burst are the first mid-IR spectroscopy performed for a GRB. Assuming the underlying slope is that of a single power-law, we obtain $\beta \approx 0.35$ and $A_V = 4.9$, in excess of the notional Galactic value. This is suggestive of extinction above the notional Galactic value, possibly due to patchy extinction within the Milky Way or dust in the GRB host galaxy. It further implies that the X-ray and optical/IR regimes are not on the same branch of the synchrotron spectrum of the afterglow. If the cooling break lies between the X-ray and optical/IR, then the temporal declines would only match for a post jet break, ISM medium and electron index with $p<2$. The shape of the JWST spectrum is near-identical in the optical/nIR to X-shooter spectroscopy obtained at 0.5 days and to later time observations with HST. The lack of spectral evolution suggests the SNe is either substantially fainter or bluer than SN~1998bw. Our {\em HST} observations also reveal a disc-like host galaxy, viewed close to edge-on that further complicates the isolation of any supernova component. The host galaxy appears rather typical amongst long-GRB hosts and suggests that the extreme properties of GRB 221009A are not directly tied to its galaxy-scale environment