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The afterglow and kilonova of the short GRB 160821B.
- Source :
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . Oct2019, Vol. 489 Issue 2, p2104-2116. 13p. - Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- GRB 160821B is a short duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected and localized by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory in the outskirts of a spiral galaxy at z  = 0.1613, at a projected physical offset of 16 kpc from the galaxy's center. We present X-ray, optical/nIR, and radio observations of its counterpart and model them with two distinct components of emission: a standard afterglow, arising from the interaction of the relativistic jet with the surrounding medium, and a kilonova, powered by the radioactive decay of the sub-relativistic ejecta. Broadband modelling of the afterglow data reveals a weak reverse shock propagating backward into the jet, and a likely jet-break at 3.5 d. This is consistent with a structured jet seen slightly off-axis (θ view ∼ θ core) while expanding into a low-density medium (n ≈ 10−3 cm−3). Analysis of the kilonova properties suggests a rapid evolution towards red colours, similar to AT2017gfo, and a low-nIR luminosity, possibly due to the presence of a long-lived neutron star. The global properties of the environment, the inferred low mass (M ej ≲ 0.006 M⊙) and velocities (v ej ≳ 0.05 c) of lanthanide-rich ejecta are consistent with a binary neutron star merger progenitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00358711
- Volume :
- 489
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 138760099
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz2255