Dust and gas in the local environments of gamma-ray bursts

Patricia Schady; Keith  Mason; Mat J. Page; Massimiliano De Pasquale; David C. Morris; Patrizia Romano; Pete W.~A. Roming; Stephan Immler; Dave E. vanden Berk

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11592.x

Dust and gas in the local environments of gamma-ray bursts

Patricia Schady, Keith Mason, Mat J. Page, Massimiliano De Pasquale, David C. Morris, Patrizia Romano, Pete W.~A. Roming, Stephan Immler, Dave E. vanden Berk

Department of Physics

University College London

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

108 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Using a sample of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows detected by both the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on Swift, we modelled the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to determine gas column densities and dust extinction in the GRB local environment. In six out of seven cases we ﬁnd an X-ray absorber associated with the GRBhostgalaxywithcolumndensity(assumingsolarabundances)rangingfrom(0.8–7.7) × 1021 cm−2.Wedeterminetherest-framevisualextinctionAV usingtheSmallMagellanicCloud (SMC), Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Galactic extinction curves to model the dust in theGRBhostgalaxy,andthisrangesfrom AV = 0.12 ± 0.04to0.65+0.08 −0.07.TheafterglowSEDs weretypicallybestﬁtbyamodelwithanSMCextinctioncurve.InonlyonecasewastheGRB afterglow better modelled by a Galactic extinction curve, which has a prominent absorption feature at 2175Å. We investigate the selection effects present in our sample and how these might distort the true distribution of AV in GRB host galaxies. We estimate that GRBs with no afterglow detected blueward of 5500Å have average rest-frame visual extinctions almost eight times those observed in the optically bright population of GRBs. This may help account for the ∼1/3 of GRBs observed by Swift that have no afterglow detected by UVOT.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	273-284
Number of pages	12
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	377
Issue number	1
Early online date	2 Apr 2007
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11592.x
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2007

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10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11592.x

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/pdf/2007MNRAS.377..273S

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title = "Dust and gas in the local environments of gamma-ray bursts",

abstract = "Using a sample of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows detected by both the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on Swift, we modelled the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to determine gas column densities and dust extinction in the GRB local environment. In six out of seven cases we ﬁnd an X-ray absorber associated with the GRBhostgalaxywithcolumndensity(assumingsolarabundances)rangingfrom(0.8–7.7) × 1021 cm−2.Wedeterminetherest-framevisualextinctionAV usingtheSmallMagellanicCloud (SMC), Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Galactic extinction curves to model the dust in theGRBhostgalaxy,andthisrangesfrom AV = 0.12 ± 0.04to0.65+0.08 −0.07.TheafterglowSEDs weretypicallybestﬁtbyamodelwithanSMCextinctioncurve.InonlyonecasewastheGRB afterglow better modelled by a Galactic extinction curve, which has a prominent absorption feature at 2175{\AA}. We investigate the selection effects present in our sample and how these might distort the true distribution of AV in GRB host galaxies. We estimate that GRBs with no afterglow detected blueward of 5500{\AA} have average rest-frame visual extinctions almost eight times those observed in the optically bright population of GRBs. This may help account for the ∼1/3 of GRBs observed by Swift that have no afterglow detected by UVOT.",

author = "Patricia Schady and Keith Mason and Page, {Mat J.} and {De Pasquale}, Massimiliano and Morris, {David C.} and Patrizia Romano and Roming, {Pete W.~A.} and Stephan Immler and {vanden Berk}, {Dave E.}",

year = "2007",

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doi = "10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11592.x",

language = "English",

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pages = "273--284",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

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T1 - Dust and gas in the local environments of gamma-ray bursts

AU - Schady, Patricia

AU - Mason, Keith

AU - Page, Mat J.

AU - De Pasquale, Massimiliano

AU - Morris, David C.

AU - Romano, Patrizia

AU - Roming, Pete W.~A.

AU - Immler, Stephan

AU - vanden Berk, Dave E.

PY - 2007/5/1

Y1 - 2007/5/1

N2 - Using a sample of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows detected by both the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on Swift, we modelled the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to determine gas column densities and dust extinction in the GRB local environment. In six out of seven cases we ﬁnd an X-ray absorber associated with the GRBhostgalaxywithcolumndensity(assumingsolarabundances)rangingfrom(0.8–7.7) × 1021 cm−2.Wedeterminetherest-framevisualextinctionAV usingtheSmallMagellanicCloud (SMC), Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Galactic extinction curves to model the dust in theGRBhostgalaxy,andthisrangesfrom AV = 0.12 ± 0.04to0.65+0.08 −0.07.TheafterglowSEDs weretypicallybestﬁtbyamodelwithanSMCextinctioncurve.InonlyonecasewastheGRB afterglow better modelled by a Galactic extinction curve, which has a prominent absorption feature at 2175Å. We investigate the selection effects present in our sample and how these might distort the true distribution of AV in GRB host galaxies. We estimate that GRBs with no afterglow detected blueward of 5500Å have average rest-frame visual extinctions almost eight times those observed in the optically bright population of GRBs. This may help account for the ∼1/3 of GRBs observed by Swift that have no afterglow detected by UVOT.

AB - Using a sample of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows detected by both the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) on Swift, we modelled the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to determine gas column densities and dust extinction in the GRB local environment. In six out of seven cases we ﬁnd an X-ray absorber associated with the GRBhostgalaxywithcolumndensity(assumingsolarabundances)rangingfrom(0.8–7.7) × 1021 cm−2.Wedeterminetherest-framevisualextinctionAV usingtheSmallMagellanicCloud (SMC), Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Galactic extinction curves to model the dust in theGRBhostgalaxy,andthisrangesfrom AV = 0.12 ± 0.04to0.65+0.08 −0.07.TheafterglowSEDs weretypicallybestﬁtbyamodelwithanSMCextinctioncurve.InonlyonecasewastheGRB afterglow better modelled by a Galactic extinction curve, which has a prominent absorption feature at 2175Å. We investigate the selection effects present in our sample and how these might distort the true distribution of AV in GRB host galaxies. We estimate that GRBs with no afterglow detected blueward of 5500Å have average rest-frame visual extinctions almost eight times those observed in the optically bright population of GRBs. This may help account for the ∼1/3 of GRBs observed by Swift that have no afterglow detected by UVOT.

U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11592.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11592.x

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 377

SP - 273

EP - 284

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 1

ER -

Dust and gas in the local environments of gamma-ray bursts

Abstract

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