| 1. |
- Schulze, S., et al.
(författare)
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GRB 120422A/SN 2012bz : Bridging the gap between low- and high-luminosity gamma-ray bursts
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 566
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. At low redshift, a handful of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been discovered with luminosities that are substantially lower (L-iso less than or similar to 10(48.5) erg s(-1)) than the average of more distant ones (L-iso greater than or similar to 10(49.5) erg s(-1)). It has been suggested that the properties of several low-luminosity (low-L) GRBs are due to shock break-out, as opposed to the emission from ultrarelativistic jets. This has led to much debate about how the populations are connected. Aims. The burst at redshift z = 0.283 from 2012 April 22 is one of the very few examples of intermediate-L GRBs with a gamma-ray luminosity of L-iso similar to 10(49.6-49.9) erg s(-1) that have been detected up to now. With the robust detection of its accompanying supernova SN 2012bz, it has the potential to answer important questions on the origin of low-and high-L GRBs and the GRB-SN connection. Methods. We carried out a spectroscopy campaign using medium-and low-resolution spectrographs with 6-10-m class telescopes, which covered a time span of 37.3 days, and a multi-wavelength imaging campaign, which ranged from radio to X-ray energies over a duration of similar to 270 days. Furthermore, we used a tuneable filter that is centred at H alpha to map star-formation in the host and the surrounding galaxies. We used these data to extract and model the properties of different radiation components and fitted the spectral energy distribution to extract the properties of the host galaxy. Results. Modelling the light curve and spectral energy distribution from the radio to the X-rays revealed that the blast wave expanded with an initial Lorentz factor of Gamma(0) similar to 50, which is a low value in comparison to high-L GRBs, and that the afterglow had an exceptionally low peak luminosity density of less than or similar to 2 x 10(30) erg s(-1) Hz(-1) in the sub-mm. Because of the weak afterglow component, we were able to recover the signature of a shock break-out in an event that was not a genuine low-L GRB for the first time. At 1.4 hr after the burst, the stellar envelope had a blackbody temperature of k(B)T similar to 16 eV and a radius of similar to 7 x 10(13) cm (both in the observer frame). The accompanying SN 2012bz reached a peak luminosity of M-V = -19.7 mag, which is 0.3 mag more luminous than SN 1998bw. The synthesised nickel mass of 0.58 M-circle dot, ejecta mass of 5.87 M-circle dot, and kinetic energy of 4.10x10(52) erg were among the highest for GRB-SNe, which makes it the most luminous spectroscopically confirmed SN to date. Nebular emission lines at the GRB location were visible, which extend from the galaxy nucleus to the explosion site. The host and the explosion site had close-to-solar metallicity. The burst occurred in an isolated star-forming region with an SFR that is 1/10 of that in the galaxy's nucleus. Conclusions. While the prompt gamma-ray emission points to a high-L GRB, the weak afterglow and the low Gamma(0) were very atypical for such a burst. Moreover, the detection of the shock break-out signature is a new quality for high-L GRBs. So far, shock break-outs were exclusively detected for low-L GRBs, while GRB 120422A had an intermediate L-iso of similar to 10(49.6-49.9) erg s(-1). Therefore, we conclude that GRB 120422A was a transition object between low-and high-L GRBs, which supports the failed-jet model that connects low-L GRBs that are driven by shock break-outs and high-L GRBs that are powered by ultra-relativistic jets.
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| 2. |
- Postigo, A. de Ugarte, et al.
(författare)
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Spectroscopy of the short-hard GRB 130603B The host galaxy and environment of a compact object merger
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 563, s. A62-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Short duration gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) are thought to be related to the violent merger of compact objects, such as neutron stars or black holes, which makes them promising sources of gravitational waves. The detection of a kilonova-like signature associated to the Swift-detected GRB 130603B has suggested that this event is the result of a compact object merger. Aims. Our knowledge on SGRB has been, until now, mostly based on the absence of supernova signatures and the analysis of the host galaxies to which they cannot always be securely associated. Further progress has been significantly hampered by the faintness and rapid fading of their optical counterparts (afterglows), which has so far precluded spectroscopy of such events. Afterglow spectroscopy is the key tool to firmly determine the distance at which the burst was produced, crucial to understand its physics, and study its local environment. Methods. Here we present the first spectra of a prototypical SGRB afterglow in which both absorption and emission features are clearly detected. Together with multi-wavelength photometry we study the host and environment of GRB 130603B. Results. From these spectra we determine the redshift of the burst to be z = 0.3565 +/- 0.0002, measure rich dynamics both in absorption and emission, and a substantial line of sight extinction of A(V) = 0.86 +/- 0.15 mag. The GRB was located at the edge of a disrupted arm of a moderately star forming galaxy with near-solar metallicity. Unlike for most long GRBs (LGRBs), N-HX/A(V) is consistent with the Galactic ratio, indicating that the explosion site differs from those found in LGRBs. Conclusions. The merger is not associated with the most star-forming region of the galaxy; however, it did occur in a dense region, implying a rapid merger or a low natal kick velocity for the compact object binary.
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| 3. |
- Starling, R. L. C., et al.
(författare)
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Discovery of the nearby long, soft GRB 100316D with an associated supernova
- 2011
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 411:4, s. 2792-2803
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the Swift discovery of the nearby long, soft gamma-ray burst GRB 100316D, and the subsequent unveiling of its low-redshift host galaxy and associated supernova. We derive the redshift of the event to be z = 0.0591 +/- 0.0001 and provide accurate astrometry for the gamma-ray burst (GRB) supernova (SN). We study the extremely unusual prompt emission with time-resolved gamma-ray to X-ray spectroscopy and find that the spectrum is best modelled with a thermal component in addition to a synchrotron emission component with a low peak energy. The X-ray light curve has a remarkably shallow decay out to at least 800 s. The host is a bright, blue galaxy with a highly disturbed morphology and we use Gemini-South, Very Large Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope observations to measure some of the basic host galaxy properties. We compare and contrast the X-ray emission and host galaxy of GRB 100316D to a subsample of GRB-SNe. GRB 100316D is unlike the majority of GRB-SNe in its X-ray evolution, but resembles rather GRB 060218, and we find that these two events have remarkably similar high energy prompt emission properties. Comparison of the host galaxies of GRB-SNe demonstrates, however, that there is a great diversity in the environments in which GRB-SNe can be found. GRB 100316D is an important addition to the currently sparse sample of spectroscopically confirmed GRB-SNe, from which a better understanding of long GRB progenitors and the GRB-SN connection can be gleaned.
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| 4. |
- Kann, D. A., et al.
(författare)
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THE AFTERGLOWS OF SWIFT-ERA GAMMA-RAY BURSTS. I. COMPARING PRE-SWIFT AND SWIFT-ERA LONG/SOFT (TYPE II) GRB OPTICAL AFTERGLOWS
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 720:2, s. 1513-1558
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have gathered optical photometry data from the literature on a large sample of Swift-era gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows including GRBs up to 2009 September, for a total of 76 GRBs, and present an additional three pre-Swift GRBs not included in an earlier sample. Furthermore, we publish 840 additional new photometry data points on a total of 42 GRB afterglows, including large data sets for GRBs 050319, 050408, 050802, 050820A, 050922C, 060418, 080413A, and 080810. We analyzed the light curves of all GRBs in the sample and derived spectral energy distributions for the sample with the best data quality, allowing us to estimate the host-galaxy extinction. We transformed the afterglow light curves into an extinction-corrected z = 1 system and compared their luminosities with a sample of pre-Swift afterglows. The results of a former study, which showed that GRB afterglows clustered and exhibited a bimodal distribution in luminosity space, are weakened by the larger sample. We found that the luminosity distribution of the two afterglow samples (Swift-era and pre-Swift) is very similar, and that a subsample for which we were not able to estimate the extinction, which is fainter than the main sample, can be explained by assuming a moderate amount of line-of-sight host extinction. We derived bolometric isotropic energies for all GRBs in our sample, and found only a tentative correlation between the prompt energy release and the optical afterglow luminosity at 1 day after the GRB in the z = 1 system. A comparative study of the optical luminosities of GRB afterglows with echelle spectra (which show a high number of foreground absorbing systems) and those without, reveals no indication that the former are statistically significantly more luminous. Furthermore, we propose the existence of an upper ceiling on afterglow luminosities and study the luminosity distribution at early times, which was not accessible before the advent of the Swift satellite. Most GRBs feature afterglows that are dominated by the forward shock from early times on. Finally, we present the first indications of a class of long GRBs, which form a bridge between the typical high-luminosity, high-redshift events and nearby low-luminosity events (which are also associated with spectroscopic supernovae) in terms of energetics and observed redshift distribution, indicating a continuous distribution overall.
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| 5. |
- Michalowski, M. J., et al.
(författare)
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Spatially-resolved dust properties of the GRB 980425 host galaxy
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 562, s. A70-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been proposed as a tool for studying star formation in the Universe, so it is crucial to investigate whether their host galaxies and immediate environments are in any way special compared with other star-forming galaxies. Here we present spatially resolved maps of dust emission of the host galaxy of the closest known GRB 980425 at z = 0.0085 using our new high-resolution observations from Herschel, Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). We modelled the spectral energy distributions of the host and of the star-forming region displaying the Wolf-Rayet signatures in the spectrum (WR region), located 800 pc from the GRB position. The host is characterised by low dust content and a high fraction of UV-visible star formation, similar to other dwarf galaxies. These galaxies are abundant in the local universe, so it is not surprising to find a GRB in one of them, assuming the correspondence between the GRB rate and star formation. The WR region contributes substantially to the host emission at the far-infrared, millimetre, and radio wavelengths and we propose that this is a consequence of its high gas density. If dense environments are also found close to the positions of other GRBs, then the ISM density should also be considered, along with metallicity, an important factor influencing whether a given stellar population can produce a GRB.
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| 6. |
- Atanasova, L., et al.
(författare)
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g-factor Measurements at RISING: The Cases of 127Sn and 128Sn
- 2010
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Ingår i: Europhysics Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 0295-5075. ; 91:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on g-factor measurements of the 19/2(+) T-1/2 = 4.5(3) mu s isomer in Sn-127 and the 10(+) T-1/2 = 2.69(23) mu s isomer in Sn-128. These isomers were produced and spin-aligned in relativistic heavy-ion fragmentation at GSI and were selected and separated by the GSI fragment separator ( FRS). The gamma-rays of the isomeric decay were detected by the RISING gamma-ray spectrometer. The method of time-differential perturbed angular distributions was utilized. The measured g-factors, g(19/2(+); Sn-127) =-0.17(2) and g(10(+); Sn-128)=-0.20(4), are compared with shell model calculations. The measured g-factors confirm the predominantly nu h(11/2)(-2) and nu(s(1/2)(-1) h(11/2)(-2)) character of the 10(+) and 19/2(-) isomers in Sn-128 and Sn-127, respectively. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the method for similar measurements in exotic neutron-rich nuclei. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2010
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| 7. |
- Sparre, M., et al.
(författare)
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THE METALLICITY AND DUST CONTENT OF A REDSHIFT 5 GAMMA-RAY BURST HOST GALAXY
- 2014
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 785:2, s. 150-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Observations of the afterglows of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) allow the study of star-forming galaxies across most of cosmic history. Here we present observations of GRB 111008A, from which we can measure metallicity, chemical abundance patterns, dust-to-metals ratio (DTM), and extinction of the GRB host galaxy at z = 5.0. The host absorption system is a damped Ly alpha absorber with a very large neutral hydrogen column density of log N (H I)/cm(-2) = 22.30 +/- 0.06 and a metallicity of [S/H] = -1.70 +/- 0.10. It is the highest-redshift GRB with such a precise metallicity measurement. The presence of fine-structure lines confirms the z = 5.0 system as the GRB host galaxy and makes this the highest redshift where Fe II fine-structure lines have been detected. The afterglow is mildly reddened with A(V) = 0.11 +/- 0.04 mag, and the host galaxy has a DTM that is consistent with being equal to or lower than typical values in the Local Group.
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| 8. |
- Vergani, S. D., et al.
(författare)
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GRB 091127/SN 2009nz and the VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy of its host galaxy : probing the faint end of the mass-metallicity relation
- 2011
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 535, s. A127-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We perform a detailed study of the gamma-ray burst GRB 091127/SN 2009nz host galaxy at z = 0.490 using the VLT/X-shooter spectrograph in slit and integral-field unit (IFU) mode. From the analysis of the optical and X-ray afterglow data obtained from ground-based telescopes and Swift-XRT, we confirm the presence of a bump associated with SN 2009nz and find evidence of a possible jet break in the afterglow lightcurve. The X-shooter afterglow spectra reveal several emission lines from the underlying host, from which we derive its integrated properties. These properties agree with those of previously studied GRB-SN hosts and, more generally, with those of the long GRB host population. We use the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based images of the host to determine its stellar mass (M⋆). Our results extend to lower M⋆ values the M-Z plot derived for the sample of long GRB hosts at 0.3 < z < 1.0 adding new information to probe the faint end of the M-Z relation and the shift of the LGRB host M-Z relation from that found from emission-line galaxy surveys. Thanks to the IFU spectroscopy, we can build the two-dimensional (2D) velocity, velocity dispersion, and star formation rate (SFR) maps. They show that the host galaxy has perturbed rotation kinematics with evidence of a SFR enhancement consistent with the afterglow position. Based on observations made with ESO Telescopes at Paranal Observatory under programmes ID 084.A-0260 and 086.A-0874.
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| 9. |
- Xu, D., et al.
(författare)
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DISCOVERY OF THE BROAD-LINED TYPE Ic SN 2013cq ASSOCIATED WITH THE VERY ENERGETIC GRB 130427A
- 2013
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 776:2, s. 98-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) at z < 1 are found in most cases to be accompanied by bright, broadlined Type Ic supernovae (SNe Ic-BL). The highest-energy GRBs are mostly located at higher redshifts, where the associated SNe are hard to detect observationally. Here, we present early and late observations of the optical counterpart of the very energetic GRB 130427A. Despite its moderate redshift, z = 0.3399+/-0.0002, GRB 130427A is at the high end of the GRB energy distribution, with an isotropic-equivalent energy release of E-iso similar to 9.6 x 10(53) erg, more than an order of magnitude more energetic than other GRBs with spectroscopically confirmed SNe. In our dense photometric monitoring, we detect excess flux in the host-subtracted r-band light curve, consistent with that expected from an emerging SN, similar to 0.2 mag fainter than the prototypical SN 1998bw. A spectrum obtained around the time of the SN peak (16.7 days after the GRB) reveals broad undulations typical of SNe Ic-BL, confirming the presence of an SN, designated SN 2013cq. The spectral shape and early peak time are similar to those of the high expansion velocity SN 2010bh associated with GRB 100316D. Our findings demonstrate that high-energy, long-duration GRBs, commonly detected at high redshift, can also be associated with SNe Ic-BL, pointing to a common progenitor mechanism.
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| 10. |
- Artigas, J., et al.
(författare)
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Towards a renewed research agenda in ecotoxicology
- 2012
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Ingår i: Environmental Pollution. - : Elsevier BV. - 0269-7491. ; 160, s. 201-206
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- New concerns about biodiversity, ecosystem services and human health triggered several new regulations increasing the need for sound ecotoxicological risk assessment. The PEER network aims to share its view on the research issues that this challenges. PEER scientists call for an improved biologically relevant exposure assessment. They promote comprehensive effect assessment at several biological levels. Biological traits should be used for Environmental risk assessment (ERA) as promising tools to better understand relationships between structure and functioning of ecosystems. The use of modern high throughput methods could also enhance the amount of data for a better risk assessment. Improved models coping with multiple stressors or biological levels are necessary to answer for a more scientifically based risk assessment. Those methods must be embedded within life cycle analysis or economical models for efficient regulations. Joint research programmes involving humanities with ecological sciences should be developed for a sound risk management. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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