Prompt Optical Observations of GRB 050319 with the Swift UVOT

K.~O. Mason, A.~J. Blustin, P. Boyd, S.~T. Holland, M.~J. Page, P. Roming, M. Still, B. Zhang, A. Breeveld, M. de Pasquale, N. Gehrels, C. Gronwall, S. Hunsberger, M. Ivanushkina, W. Landsman, K. McGowan, J. Nousek, T. Poole, J. Rhoads, S. RosenP. Schady

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22 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract



The UVOT telescope on the Swift observatory has detected optical afterglow emission from GRB 050319. The flux declined with a power-law slope of α = -0.57 between the start of observations some 230 s after the burst onset (90 s after the burst trigger) until it faded below the sensitivity threshold of the instrument after ~5 × 104 s. There is no evidence for the rapidly declining component in the early light curve that is seen at the same time in the X-ray band. The afterglow is not detected in UVOT shortward of the B band, suggesting a redshift of about 3.5. The optical V-band emission lies on the extension of the X-ray spectrum, with an optical-to-X-ray slope of β = -0.8. The relatively flat decay rate of the burst suggests that the central engine continues to inject energy into the fireball for as long as a few × 104 s after the burst.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)311-315
Number of pages5
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume639
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2006

Keywords

  • Astrometry, Galaxies: Distances and Redshifts, Gamma Rays: Bursts, Shock Waves- X-rays: individual (GRB 050319), Astrophysics

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