1. Strongly Variable Absorption Lines Along the Line-of-Sight to a Gamma-Ray Burst.
- Author
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Garnavich, Peter M., Heng Hao, and Stanek, Krzysztof Z.
- Subjects
- *
AFTERGLOW (Physics) , *GAMMA ray bursts , *TELESCOPES , *ASTRONOMICAL observations , *REDSHIFT , *ABSORPTION spectra - Abstract
Quick response to the bright afterglow of GRB 060206 permitted four hours of time-resolved spectroscopy to be obtained with the FLWO 1.5-m Tillinghast telescope. The spectra show the presence of three absorption systems at z = 4.05, 3.54 and 1.48 with the redshift of the burst probably coincident with the damped Lyman-α system at z = 4.05. The time-series of spectra reveal variations in the absorption line strengths of Mg II and Fe II in the system at z = 1.48. This is the first detection of significant variability in a an intervening absorption system and this observation has important implications for the understanding of the distribution of cloud sizes and the difference between QSO and GRB absorption line characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2007
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