X-ray spectral components observed in the afterglow of GRB 130925A

Eric C. Bellm; Nicolas M. Barrière; Varun Bhalerao; Steven E. Boggs; S. Bradley Cenko; Finn E. Christensen; William W. Craig; Karl Forster; Chris L. Fryer; Charles J. Hailey; Fiona A. Harrison; Assaf Horesh; Chryssa Kouveliotou; Kristin K. Madsen; Jon M. Miller; Eran O. Ofek; Daniel A. Perley; Vikram R. Rana; Stephen P. Reynolds; Daniel Stern; John A. Tomsick; William W. Zhang

doi:10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L19

X-ray spectral components observed in the afterglow of GRB 130925A

Eric C. Bellm
, Nicolas M. Barrière
, Varun Bhalerao
, Steven E. Boggs
, S. Bradley Cenko
, Finn E. Christensen
, William W. Craig
, Karl Forster
, Chris L. Fryer
, Charles J. Hailey
, Fiona A. Harrison
, Assaf Horesh
, Chryssa Kouveliotou
, Kristin K. Madsen
, Jon M. Miller
, Eran O. Ofek
, Daniel A. Perley
, Vikram R. Rana
, Stephen P. Reynolds
, Daniel Stern

John A. Tomsick, William W. Zhang

Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics

Weizmann Institute of Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We have identified spectral features in the late-time X-ray afterglow of the unusually long, slow-decaying GRB 130925A using NuSTAR, Swift/X-Ray Telescope, and Chandra. A spectral component in addition to an absorbed power law is required at >4σ significance, and its spectral shape varies between two observation epochs at 2 × 10⁵ and 10⁶ s after the burst. Several models can fit this additional component, each with very different physical implications. A broad, resolved Gaussian absorption feature of several keV width improves the fit, but it is poorly constrained in the second epoch. An additive blackbody or second power-law component provide better fits. Both are challenging to interpret: the blackbody radius is near the scale of a compact remnant (10⁸ cm), while the second power-law component requires an unobserved high-energy cutoff in order to be consistent with the non-detection by Fermi/Large Area Telescope.

Original language	English
Article number	L19
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	784
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L19
State	Published - 1 Apr 2014

Keywords

gamma-ray burst: individual (GRB 130925A)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Astronomy and Astrophysics
Space and Planetary Science

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10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L19

Cite this

Bellm, E. C., Barrière, N. M., Bhalerao, V., Boggs, S. E., Cenko, S. B., Christensen, F. E., Craig, W. W., Forster, K., Fryer, C. L., Hailey, C. J., Harrison, F. A., Horesh, A., Kouveliotou, C., Madsen, K. K., Miller, J. M., Ofek, E. O., Perley, D. A., Rana, V. R., Reynolds, S. P., ... Zhang, W. W. (2014). X-ray spectral components observed in the afterglow of GRB 130925A. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 784(2), Article L19. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L19

@article{d79f036a595247c6bdeaadb6ae069523,

title = "X-ray spectral components observed in the afterglow of GRB 130925A",

abstract = "We have identified spectral features in the late-time X-ray afterglow of the unusually long, slow-decaying GRB 130925A using NuSTAR, Swift/X-Ray Telescope, and Chandra. A spectral component in addition to an absorbed power law is required at >4σ significance, and its spectral shape varies between two observation epochs at 2 × 105 and 106 s after the burst. Several models can fit this additional component, each with very different physical implications. A broad, resolved Gaussian absorption feature of several keV width improves the fit, but it is poorly constrained in the second epoch. An additive blackbody or second power-law component provide better fits. Both are challenging to interpret: the blackbody radius is near the scale of a compact remnant (108 cm), while the second power-law component requires an unobserved high-energy cutoff in order to be consistent with the non-detection by Fermi/Large Area Telescope.",

keywords = "gamma-ray burst: individual (GRB 130925A)",

author = "Bellm, \{Eric C.\} and Barri{\`e}re, \{Nicolas M.\} and Varun Bhalerao and Boggs, \{Steven E.\} and Cenko, \{S. Bradley\} and Christensen, \{Finn E.\} and Craig, \{William W.\} and Karl Forster and Fryer, \{Chris L.\} and Hailey, \{Charles J.\} and Harrison, \{Fiona A.\} and Assaf Horesh and Chryssa Kouveliotou and Madsen, \{Kristin K.\} and Miller, \{Jon M.\} and Ofek, \{Eran O.\} and Perley, \{Daniel A.\} and Rana, \{Vikram R.\} and Reynolds, \{Stephen P.\} and Daniel Stern and Tomsick, \{John A.\} and Zhang, \{William W.\}",

note = "NASA [NNG08FD60C]; National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationThis work was supported under NASA contract No. NNG08FD60C and uses data from the NuSTAR mission, a project led by the California Institute of Technology, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We thank the NuSTAR Operations team for executing the target of opportunity observations. This research has used the NuSTAR Data Analysis Software (NuSTARDAS) jointly developed by the ASI Science Data Center (ASDC, Italy) and the California Institute of Technology (USA). These results are based in part on observations made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We thank the Chandra director for granting discretionary time and the Chandra team for prompt execution of the observations.",

year = "2014",

month = apr,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L19",

language = "English",

volume = "784",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal Letters",

issn = "2041-8205",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "2",

}

Bellm, EC, Barrière, NM, Bhalerao, V, Boggs, SE, Cenko, SB, Christensen, FE, Craig, WW, Forster, K, Fryer, CL, Hailey, CJ, Harrison, FA, Horesh, A, Kouveliotou, C, Madsen, KK, Miller, JM, Ofek, EO, Perley, DA, Rana, VR, Reynolds, SP, Stern, D, Tomsick, JA & Zhang, WW 2014, 'X-ray spectral components observed in the afterglow of GRB 130925A', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 784, no. 2, L19. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L19

TY - JOUR

T1 - X-ray spectral components observed in the afterglow of GRB 130925A

AU - Bellm, Eric C.

AU - Barrière, Nicolas M.

AU - Bhalerao, Varun

AU - Boggs, Steven E.

AU - Cenko, S. Bradley

AU - Christensen, Finn E.

AU - Craig, William W.

AU - Forster, Karl

AU - Fryer, Chris L.

AU - Hailey, Charles J.

AU - Harrison, Fiona A.

AU - Horesh, Assaf

AU - Kouveliotou, Chryssa

AU - Madsen, Kristin K.

AU - Miller, Jon M.

AU - Ofek, Eran O.

AU - Perley, Daniel A.

AU - Rana, Vikram R.

AU - Reynolds, Stephen P.

AU - Stern, Daniel

AU - Tomsick, John A.

AU - Zhang, William W.

N1 - NASA [NNG08FD60C]; National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationThis work was supported under NASA contract No. NNG08FD60C and uses data from the NuSTAR mission, a project led by the California Institute of Technology, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. We thank the NuSTAR Operations team for executing the target of opportunity observations. This research has used the NuSTAR Data Analysis Software (NuSTARDAS) jointly developed by the ASI Science Data Center (ASDC, Italy) and the California Institute of Technology (USA). These results are based in part on observations made by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We thank the Chandra director for granting discretionary time and the Chandra team for prompt execution of the observations.

PY - 2014/4/1

Y1 - 2014/4/1

N2 - We have identified spectral features in the late-time X-ray afterglow of the unusually long, slow-decaying GRB 130925A using NuSTAR, Swift/X-Ray Telescope, and Chandra. A spectral component in addition to an absorbed power law is required at >4σ significance, and its spectral shape varies between two observation epochs at 2 × 105 and 106 s after the burst. Several models can fit this additional component, each with very different physical implications. A broad, resolved Gaussian absorption feature of several keV width improves the fit, but it is poorly constrained in the second epoch. An additive blackbody or second power-law component provide better fits. Both are challenging to interpret: the blackbody radius is near the scale of a compact remnant (108 cm), while the second power-law component requires an unobserved high-energy cutoff in order to be consistent with the non-detection by Fermi/Large Area Telescope.

AB - We have identified spectral features in the late-time X-ray afterglow of the unusually long, slow-decaying GRB 130925A using NuSTAR, Swift/X-Ray Telescope, and Chandra. A spectral component in addition to an absorbed power law is required at >4σ significance, and its spectral shape varies between two observation epochs at 2 × 105 and 106 s after the burst. Several models can fit this additional component, each with very different physical implications. A broad, resolved Gaussian absorption feature of several keV width improves the fit, but it is poorly constrained in the second epoch. An additive blackbody or second power-law component provide better fits. Both are challenging to interpret: the blackbody radius is near the scale of a compact remnant (108 cm), while the second power-law component requires an unobserved high-energy cutoff in order to be consistent with the non-detection by Fermi/Large Area Telescope.

KW - gamma-ray burst: individual (GRB 130925A)

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84896981982

U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L19

DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/784/2/L19

M3 - Article

SN - 2041-8205

VL - 784

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

IS - 2

M1 - L19

ER -

X-ray spectral components observed in the afterglow of GRB 130925A

Abstract

Keywords

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