Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 111215A was bright at X-ray and radio frequencies, but not detected in the optical or near-infrared (nIR) down to deep limits. We have observed the GRB afterglow with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and Arcminute Microkelvin Imager at radio frequencies, with the Willia...

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Main Authors: van der Horst, A., Levan, A., Pooley, G., Wiersema, K., Kruhler, T., Perley, D., Starling, R., Curran, Peter, Tanvir, N., Wijers, R., Strom, R., Kouveliotou, C., Hartoog, O., Xu, D., Fynbo, J., Jakobsson, P.
Format: Journal Article
Published: OXFORD UNIV PRESS 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20673
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author van der Horst, A.
Levan, A.
Pooley, G.
Wiersema, K.
Kruhler, T.
Perley, D.
Starling, R.
Curran, Peter
Tanvir, N.
Wijers, R.
Strom, R.
Kouveliotou, C.
Hartoog, O.
Xu, D.
Fynbo, J.
Jakobsson, P.
author_facet van der Horst, A.
Levan, A.
Pooley, G.
Wiersema, K.
Kruhler, T.
Perley, D.
Starling, R.
Curran, Peter
Tanvir, N.
Wijers, R.
Strom, R.
Kouveliotou, C.
Hartoog, O.
Xu, D.
Fynbo, J.
Jakobsson, P.
author_sort van der Horst, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 111215A was bright at X-ray and radio frequencies, but not detected in the optical or near-infrared (nIR) down to deep limits. We have observed the GRB afterglow with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and Arcminute Microkelvin Imager at radio frequencies, with the William Herschel Telescope and Nordic Optical Telescope in the nIR/optical, and with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We have combined our data with the Swift X-Ray Telescope monitoring, and radio and millimetre observations from the literature to perform broad-band modelling, and determined the macro- and microphysical parameters of the GRB blast wave. By combining the broad-band modelling results with our nIR upper limits we have put constraints on the extinction in the host galaxy. This is consistent with the optical extinction we have derived from the excess X-ray absorption, and higher than in other dark bursts for which similar modelling work has been performed. We also present deep imaging of the host galaxy with the Keck I telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which resulted in a well-constrained photometric redshift, giving credence to the tentative spectroscopic redshift we obtained with the Keck II telescope, and estimates for the stellar mass and star formation rate of the host. Finally, our high-resolution HST images of the host galaxy show that the GRB afterglow position is offset from the brightest regions of the host galaxy, in contrast to studies of optically bright GRBs.
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format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:35:48Z
publishDate 2015
publisher OXFORD UNIV PRESS
recordtype eprints
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-206732017-09-13T13:51:04Z Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A van der Horst, A. Levan, A. Pooley, G. Wiersema, K. Kruhler, T. Perley, D. Starling, R. Curran, Peter Tanvir, N. Wijers, R. Strom, R. Kouveliotou, C. Hartoog, O. Xu, D. Fynbo, J. Jakobsson, P. Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 111215A was bright at X-ray and radio frequencies, but not detected in the optical or near-infrared (nIR) down to deep limits. We have observed the GRB afterglow with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope and Arcminute Microkelvin Imager at radio frequencies, with the William Herschel Telescope and Nordic Optical Telescope in the nIR/optical, and with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We have combined our data with the Swift X-Ray Telescope monitoring, and radio and millimetre observations from the literature to perform broad-band modelling, and determined the macro- and microphysical parameters of the GRB blast wave. By combining the broad-band modelling results with our nIR upper limits we have put constraints on the extinction in the host galaxy. This is consistent with the optical extinction we have derived from the excess X-ray absorption, and higher than in other dark bursts for which similar modelling work has been performed. We also present deep imaging of the host galaxy with the Keck I telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which resulted in a well-constrained photometric redshift, giving credence to the tentative spectroscopic redshift we obtained with the Keck II telescope, and estimates for the stellar mass and star formation rate of the host. Finally, our high-resolution HST images of the host galaxy show that the GRB afterglow position is offset from the brightest regions of the host galaxy, in contrast to studies of optically bright GRBs. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20673 10.1093/mnras/stu2407 OXFORD UNIV PRESS fulltext
spellingShingle van der Horst, A.
Levan, A.
Pooley, G.
Wiersema, K.
Kruhler, T.
Perley, D.
Starling, R.
Curran, Peter
Tanvir, N.
Wijers, R.
Strom, R.
Kouveliotou, C.
Hartoog, O.
Xu, D.
Fynbo, J.
Jakobsson, P.
Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A
title Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A
title_full Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A
title_fullStr Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A
title_full_unstemmed Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A
title_short Detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark GRB 111215A
title_sort detailed afterglow modelling and host galaxy properties of the dark grb 111215a
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/20673