AT2018cow: A Luminous Millimeter Transient Ho, Anna Y. Q.; Phinney, E. Sterl; Ravi, Vikram ...
The Astrophysical journal,
01/2019, Letnik:
871, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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Odprti dostop
We present detailed submillimeter- through centimeter-wave observations of the extraordinary extragalactic transient AT2018cow. The apparent characteristics-the high radio luminosity, the rise and ...long-lived emission plateau at millimeter bands, and the sub-relativistic velocity-have no precedent. A basic interpretation of the data suggests coupled to a fast but sub-relativistic ( ) shock in a dense ( ) medium. We find that the X-ray emission is not naturally explained by an extension of the radio-submm synchrotron spectrum, nor by inverse Compton scattering of the dominant blackbody UV/optical/IR photons by energetic electrons within the forward shock. By , the X-ray emission shows spectral softening and erratic inter-day variability. Taken together, we are led to invoke an additional source of X-ray emission: the central engine of the event. Regardless of the nature of this central engine, this source heralds a new class of energetic transients shocking a dense medium, which at early times are most readily observed at millimeter wavelengths.
Gravitational waves have been detected from a binary neutron star merger event, GW170817. The detection of electromagnetic radiation from the same source has shown that the merger occurred in the ...outskirts of the galaxy NGC 4993, at a distance of 40 megaparsecs from Earth. We report the detection of a counterpart radio source that appears 16 days after the event, allowing us to diagnose the energetics and environment of the merger. The observed radio emission can be explained by either a collimated ultrarelativistic jet, viewed off-axis, or a cocoon of mildly relativistic ejecta. Within 100 days of the merger, the radio light curves will enable observers to distinguish between these models, and the angular velocity and geometry of the debris will be directly measurable by very long baseline interferometry.
GW170817 was the first gravitational-wave detection of a binary neutron-star merger. It was accompanied by radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum and localized to the galaxy NGC 4993 at a ...distance of 40 megaparsecs. It has been proposed that the observed γ-ray, X-ray and radio emission is due to an ultra-relativistic jet being launched during the merger (and successfully breaking out of the surrounding material), directed away from our line of sight (off-axis). The presence of such a jet is predicted from models that posit neutron-star mergers as the drivers of short hard-γ-ray bursts. Here we report that the radio light curve of GW170817 has no direct signature of the afterglow of an off-axis jet. Although we cannot completely rule out the existence of a jet directed away from the line of sight, the observed γ-ray emission could not have originated from such a jet. Instead, the radio data require the existence of a mildly relativistic wide-angle outflow moving towards us. This outflow could be the high-velocity tail of the neutron-rich material that was ejected dynamically during the merger, or a cocoon of material that breaks out when a jet launched during the merger transfers its energy to the dynamical ejecta. Because the cocoon model explains the radio light curve of GW170817, as well as the γ-ray and X-ray emission (and possibly also the ultraviolet and optical emission), it is the model that is most consistent with the observational data. Cocoons may be a ubiquitous phenomenon produced in neutron-star mergers, giving rise to a hitherto unidentified population of radio, ultraviolet, X-ray and γ-ray transients in the local Universe.
ABSTRACT
We present radio and optical afterglow observations of the TeV-bright long gamma-ray burst 190114C at a redshift of z = 0.425, which was detected by the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging ...Cherenkov telescope. Our observations with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillitmeter Array, Australia Telescope Compact Array, and upgraded Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope were obtained by our low frequency observing campaign and range from ∼1 to ∼140 d after the burst and the optical observations were done with three optical telescopes spanning up to ∼25 d after the burst. Long-term radio/mm observations reveal the complex nature of the afterglow, which does not follow the spectral and temporal closure relations expected from the standard afterglow model. We find that the microphysical parameters of the external forward shock, representing the share of shock-created energy in the non-thermal electron population and magnetic field, are evolving with time. The inferred kinetic energy in the blast-wave depends strongly on the assumed ambient medium density profile, with a constant density medium demanding almost an order of magnitude higher energy than in the prompt emission, while a stellar wind-driven medium requires approximately the same amount energy as in prompt emission.
Abstract The radiation mechanism underlying the prompt emission remains unresolved and can be resolved using a systematic and uniform time-resolved spectro-polarimetric study. In this paper, we ...investigated the spectral, temporal, and polarimetric characteristics of five bright gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) using archival data from AstroSat CZTI, Swift Burst Alert Telescope, and Fermi/GBM. These bright GRBs were detected by CZTI in its first year of operation, and their average polarization characteristics have been published in Chattopadhyay et al. In the present work, we examined the time-resolved (in 100–600 keV) and energy-resolved polarization measurements of these GRBs with an improved polarimetric technique such as increasing the effective area and bandwidth (by using data from low-gain pixels), using an improved event selection logic to reduce noise in the double events and extend the spectral bandwidth. In addition, we also separately carried out detailed time-resolved spectral analyses of these GRBs using empirical and physical synchrotron models. By these improved time-resolved and energy-resolved spectral and polarimetric studies (not fully coupled spectro-polarimetric fitting), we could pin down the elusive prompt emission mechanism of these GRBs. Our spectro-polarimetric analysis reveals that GRB 160623A, GRB 160703A, and GRB 160821A have Poynting flux-dominated jets. On the other hand, GRB 160325A and GRB 160802A have baryonic-dominated jets with mild magnetization. Furthermore, we observe a rapid change in polarization angle by ∼90° within the main pulse of very bright GRB 160821A, consistent with our previous results. Our study suggests that the jet composition of GRBs may exhibit a wide range of magnetization, which can be revealed by utilizing spectro-polarimetric investigations of the bright GRBs.
We present a spectropolarimetric analysis of GRB 171010A using data from AstroSat, Fermi, and Swift to provide insights into the physical mechanisms of the prompt radiation and jet geometry. The ...prompt emission from GRB 171010A was very bright (fluence >10−4 erg cm−2) and had a complex structure that was composed of the superimposition of several pulses. The energy spectra deviate from the typical Band function to show a low-energy peak ∼15 keV, which we interpret as a power law with two breaks, with a synchrotron origin. Alternatively, the prompt spectra can also be interpreted as Comptonized emission, or a blackbody combined with a Band function. A time-resolved analysis confirms the presence of the low-energy component, while the peak energy is found to be confined in the range of 100-200 keV. The afterglow emission detected by Fermi-LAT is typical of an external shock model, and we constrain the initial Lorentz factor using the peak time of the emission. Swift-XRT measurements of the afterglow show an indication for a jet break, allowing us to constrain the jet opening angle to <6°. The detection of a large number of Compton-scattered events by AstroSat-CZTI provides an opportunity to study the hard X-ray polarization of the prompt emission. We find that the burst has a high time-variable polarization, and the emission has a higher polarization at energies above the peak energy. We discuss all observations in the context of GRB models and polarization arising as a result of physical or geometric effects: synchrotron emission from multiple shocks with ordered or random magnetic fields, a jet dominated by Poynting flux that undergoes abrupt magnetic dissipation, subphotospheric dissipation, a jet consisting of fragmented fireballs, and the Comptonization model.
Abstract
We report on a timing and spectral analysis of a 50 ks NuSTAR observation of IGR J16320−4751 (= AX J1631.9−4752), a high-mass X-ray binary hosting a slowly rotating neutron star. In this ...observation from 2015, the spin period was 1308.8 ± 0.4 s giving a period derivative
P
̇
∼
2
×
10
−
8
s s
−1
when compared with the period measured in 2004. In addition, the pulsed fraction decreased as a function of energy, as opposed to the constant trend that was seen previously. This suggests a change in the accretion geometry of the system during the intervening 11 yr. The phase-averaged spectra were fit with the typical model for accreting pulsars: a power law with an exponential cutoff. This left positive residuals at 6.4 keV attributable to the known iron K
α
line, as well as negative residuals around 14 keV from a candidate cyclotron line detected at a significance of 5
σ
. We found no significant differences in the spectral parameters across the spin period, other than the expected changes in flux and component normalizations. A flare lasting around 5 ks was captured during the first half of the observation, where the X-ray emission hardened and the local column density decreased. Finally, the binary orbital period was refined to 8.9912 ± 0.0078 days thanks to Swift/BAT monitoring data from 2005–2022.
A Tale of Two Transients: GW 170104 and GRB 170105A Bhalerao, V.; Kasliwal, M. M.; Bhattacharya, D. ...
Astrophysical journal/The Astrophysical journal,
08/2017, Letnik:
845, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
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We present multi-wavelength follow-up campaigns by the AstroSat CZTI and GROWTH collaborations in search of an electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational wave event GW 170104. At the time of ...the GW 170104 trigger, the AstroSat CZTI field of view covered 50.3% of the sky localization. We do not detect any hard X-ray (>100 keV) signal at this time, and place an upper limit of , for a 1 s timescale. Separately, the ATLAS survey reported a rapidly fading optical source dubbed ATLAS17aeu in the error circle of GW 170104. Our panchromatic investigation of ATLAS17aeu shows that it is the afterglow of an unrelated long, soft GRB 170105A, with only a fortuitous spatial coincidence with GW 170104. We then discuss the properties of this transient in the context of standard long GRB afterglow models.
ABSTRACT
Multipulsed GRB 190530A, detected by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope onboard Fermi, is the sixth most fluent GBM burst detected so far. This paper presents the ...timing, spectral, and polarimetric analysis of the prompt emission observed using AstroSat and Fermi to provide insight into the prompt emission radiation mechanisms. The time-integrated spectrum shows conclusive proof of two breaks due to peak energy and a second lower energy break. Time-integrated (55.43 ± 21.30 per cent) as well as time-resolved polarization measurements, made by the Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) onboard AstroSat, show a hint of high degree of polarization. The presence of a hint of high degree of polarization and the values of low energy spectral index (αpt) do not run over the synchrotron limit for the first two pulses, supporting the synchrotron origin in an ordered magnetic field. However, during the third pulse, αpt exceeds the synchrotron line of death in few bins, and a thermal signature along with the synchrotron component in the time-resolved spectra is observed. Furthermore, we also report the earliest optical observations constraining afterglow polarization using the MASTER (P < 1.3 per cent) and the redshift measurement (z = 0.9386) obtained with the 10.4 m GTC (Gran Telescopio Canarias) telescopes. The broad-band afterglow can be described with a forward shock model for an ISM (interstellar medium)-like medium with a wide jet opening angle. We determine a circumburst density of n0 ∼ 7.41, kinetic energy EK ∼ 7.24 × 1054 erg, and radiated gamma-ray energy Eγ,iso ∼ 6.05 × 1054 erg.
ABSTRACT The intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) autonomously responded to and promptly tiled the error region of the first gravitational-wave event GW150914 to search for an optical ...counterpart. Only a small fraction of the total localized region was immediately visible in the northern night sky, due both to Sun-angle and elevation constraints. Here, we report on the transient candidates identified and rapid follow-up undertaken to determine the nature of each candidate. Even in the small area imaged of 126 deg2, after extensive filtering, eight candidates were deemed worthy of additional follow-up. Within two hours, all eight were spectroscopically classified by the Keck II telescope. Curiously, even though such events are rare, one of our candidates was a superluminous supernova. We obtained radio data with the Jansky Very Large Array and X-ray follow-up with the Swift satellite for this transient. None of our candidates appear to be associated with the gravitational-wave trigger, which is unsurprising given that GW150914 came from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes. This end-to-end discovery and follow-up campaign bodes well for future searches in this post-detection era of gravitational waves.
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