| 1. |
- Selsing, J., et al.
(author)
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The X-shooter GRB afterglow legacy sample (XS-GRB)
- 2019
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP SCIENCES S A. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 623
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this work we present spectra of all gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows that have been promptly observed with the X-shooter spectrograph until 31/03/2017. In total, we have obtained spectroscopic observations of 103 individual GRBs observed within 48 hours of the GRB trigger. Redshifts have been measured for 97 per cent of these, covering a redshift range from 0.059 to 7.84. Based on a set of observational selection criteria that minimise biases with regards to intrinsic properties of the GRBs, the follow-up effort has been focused on producing a homogeneously selected sample of 93 afterglow spectra for GRBs discovered by the Swift satellite. We here provide a public release of all the reduced spectra, including continuum estimates and telluric absorption corrections. For completeness, we also provide reductions for the 18 late-time observations of the underlying host galaxies. We provide an assessment of the degree of completeness with respect to the parent GRB population, in terms of the X-ray properties of the bursts in the sample and find that the sample presented here is representative of the full Swift sample. We have constrained the fraction of dark bursts to be <28 per cent and confirm previous results that higher optical darkness is correlated with increased X-ray absorption. For the 42 bursts for which it is possible, we have provided a measurement of the neutral hydrogen column density, increasing the total number of published HI column density measurements by similar to 33 per cent. This dataset provides a unique resource to study the ISM across cosmic time, from the local progenitor surroundings to the intervening Universe.
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| 2. |
- Hartoog, O. E., et al.
(author)
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VLT/X-Shooter spectroscopy of the afterglow of the Swift GRB 130606A Chemical abundances and reionisation at z similar to 6
- 2015
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 580
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context: The reionisation of the Universe is a process that is thought to have ended around z similar to 6, as inferred from spectroscopy of distant bright background sources, such as quasars (QSO) and gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows. Furthermore, spectroscopy of a GRB afterglow provides insight in its host galaxy, which is often too dim and distant to study otherwise.Aims: For the Swift GRB 130606A at z = 5.913 we have obtained a high S/N spectrum covering the full optical and near-IR wavelength region at intermediate spectral resolution with VLT/X-Shooter. We aim to measure the degree of ionisation of the intergalactic medium (IGM) between z = 5.02-5.84 and to study the chemical abundance pattern and dust content of its host galaxy.Methods: We estimated the UV continuum of the GRB afterglow using a power-law extrapolation, then measured the flux decrement due to absorption at Ly alpha,beta, and gamma wavelength regions. Furthermore, we fitted the shape of the red damping wing of Lya. The hydrogen and metal absorption lines formed in the host galaxy were fitted with Voigt profiles to obtain column densities. We investigated whether ionisation corrections needed to be applied.Results: Our measurements of the Ly alpha-forest optical depth are consistent with previous measurements of QSOs, but have a much smaller uncertainty. The analysis of the red damping wing yields a neutral fraction x(HI) < 0.05 (3 sigma). We obtain column density measurements of H, Al, Si, and Fe; for C, O, S and Ni we obtain limits. The ionisation due to the GRB is estimated to be negligible (corrections < 0.03 dex), but larger corrections may apply due to the pre-existing radiation field (up to 0.4 dex based on sub-DLA studies). Assuming that [Si/Fe] = +0.79 +/- 0.13 is due to dust depletion, the dust-to-metal ratio is similar to the Galactic value.Conclusions: Our measurements confirm that the Universe is already predominantly ionised over the redshift range probed in this work, but was slightly more neutral at z > 5.6. GRBs are useful probes of the ionisation state of the IGM in the early Universe, but because of internal scatter we need a larger statistical sample to draw robust conclusions. The high [Si/Fe] in the host can be due to dust depletion, a-element enhancement, or a combination of both. The very high value of [Al/Fe] = 2.40 +/- 0.78 might be due to a proton capture process and is probably connected to the stellar population history. We estimate the host metallicity to be -1.7 < [M/H] < -0.9 (2%-13% of solar).
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| 3. |
- Noterdaeme, P., et al.
(author)
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Discovery of a compact gas-rich damped Lyman-alpha galaxy at z = 2.2 : evidence of a starburst driven outflow
- 2012
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 540, s. A63-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the detection of Ly alpha, [OIII], and H alpha emission associated with an extremely strong damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) system (N(HI) = 10(22.10) cm(-2)) at z = 2.207 towards the quasar SDSS J113520.39-001053.56. This is the largest Hi column density ever measured along a quasi-stellar object (QSO) line of sight, though typical of those often found in DLAs associated to gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). This absorption system can also be classified as an ultra-strong Mg II system with W-r(lambda 2796) similar or equal to 3.6 angstrom. The mean metallicity of the gas ([Zn/H] = -1.1) and dust depletion factors ([Zn/Fe] = 0.72, [Zn/Cr] = 0.49) are consistent with (and only marginally larger than) the mean values found in the general QSO-DLA population. The [OIII]-H alpha emitting region has a very small impact parameter with respect to the QSO line of sight, b approximate to 0.1 '' (0.9 kpc proper distance), and is unresolved. From the H alpha line, we measure a significant star formation rate (SFR) approximate to 25 M-circle dot yr(-1) (uncorrected for dust). The shape of the Ly alpha line is double-peaked, which is the signature of a resonant scattering of Ly alpha photons, and the Ly alpha emission is spatially extended. More strikingly, the blue and red Ly alpha peaks arise from distinct regions extended over a few kpc on either side of the star-forming region. We propose that this is the consequence of a Ly alpha transfer in outflowing gas. The presence of starburst-driven outflows is also in agreement with the high SFR together with the small size and low mass of the galaxy (M-vir similar to 10(10) M-circle dot). By placing constraints on the stellar UV continuum luminosity of the galaxy, we estimate an age of at most a few 10(7) yr, again consistent with a recent starburst scenario. We interpret these data as the observation of a young, gas-rich, compact starburst galaxy, from which material is expelled through collimated winds powered by the vigorous star formation activity. We substantiate this picture by modelling the radiative transfer of Ly alpha photons in the galactic counterpart. Though our model (a spherical galaxy with bipolar outflowing jets) is a simplistic representation of the true gas distribution and velocity field, the agreement between the observed and simulated properties is particularly good (spectral shape and width of the Lyman-alpha emission, spatial configuration, escape fraction as well as absorption kinematics, HI column density, and dust reddening). Finally, we propose that selecting DLAs with very high Hi column densities may be an efficient way of detecting star-forming galaxies at small impact parameters from the background QSO lines of sight.
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