No Arabic abstract
The HETE-2 FREGATE and WXM instruments detected a short, hard GRB at 00:26:18.72 UT on 31 May 2002. A preliminary localization was reported as a GCN Position Notice 88 min after the burst, and a refined localization was disseminated 123 minutes later. An IPN localization of the burst was reported 18 hours after the GRB, and a refined IPN localization was disseminated ~5 days after the burst. The final IPN localization, disseminated on 25 July 2002, is a diamond-shaped region centered on RA=15h 15m 11.18s, Dec=-19o 24 27.08 (J2000), and has an area of ~9 square arcminutes (99.7% confidence region). The prompt localization of the burst by HETE-2, coupled with the refinement of the localization by the IPN, made possible the most sensitive follow-up observations to date of a short, hard GRB at radio, optical, and X-ray wavelengths. The time history of GRB020531 at high (>30 keV) energies consists of a short, intense spike followed by a much less intense secondary peak, which is characteristic of many short, hard bursts. The duration of the burst increases with decreasing energy and the spectrum of the burst evolves from hard to soft, behaviors which are similar to those of long GRBs. This suggests that short, hard GRBs are closely related to long GRBs.
The {it HETE-2} (hereafter HETE) French Gamma Telescope (FREGATE) and the Wide-field X-ray Monitor (WXM) instruments detected a short ($t_{50} = 360$ msec in the FREGATE 85-300 keV energy band), hard gamma-ray burst (GRB) that occurred at 1578.72 SOD (00:26:18.72 UT) on 31 May 2002. The WXM flight localization software produced a valid location in spacecraft (relative) coordinates. However, since no on-board real-time star camera aspect was available, an absolute localization could not be disseminated. A preliminary localization was reported as a GCN Position Notice at 01:54:22 UT, 88 min after the burst. Further ground analysis produced a refined localization, which can be expressed as a 90% confidence rectangle that is 67 arcminutes in RA and 43 arcminutes in Dec (90% confidence region), centered at RA = +15$^{rm h}$ 14$^{rm m}$ 45$^{rm s}$, Dec = -19$^circ$ 21arcmin 35arcsec (J2000). An IPN localization of the burst was disseminated 18 hours after the GRB (Hurley et al. 2002b). A refined IPN localization was disseminated $approx$ 5 days after the burst. This hexagonal-shaped localization error region is centered on RA = 15$^{rm h}$ 15$^{rm m}$ 03.57$^{rm s}$, -19$^circ$ 24arcmin 51.00arcsec (J2000), and has an area of $approx$ 22 square arcminutes (99.7% confidence region). The prompt localization of this short, hard GRB by HETE and the anti-Sun pointing of the HETE instruments, coupled with the refinement of the localization by the IPN, has made possible rapid follow-up observations of the burst at radio, optical, and X-ray wavelengths.
INTEGRAL has observed 47 long-duration GRBs (T_90 > 2s) and 1 short-duration GRB (T_90 < 2s) in five years of observation since October 2002. This work presents the properties of the prompt emission of GRB 070707, which is the first short hard GRB observed by INTEGRAL. The spectral and temporal properties of GRB 070707 were determined using the two sensitive coded-mask gamma-ray instruments on board INTEGRAL, IBIS and SPI. The T_90 duration was 0.8s, and the spectrum of the prompt emission was obtained by joint deconvolution of IBIS and SPI data to yield a best fit power-law with photon index alpha = -1.19 +0.14 -0.13, which is consistent with the characteristics of short-hard gamma-ray bursts. The peak flux over 1 second was 1.79 photons/cm^2/s and the fluence over the same interval was 2.07 x 10^-7 erg/cm^2 in the energy range 20-200keV. The spectral lag measured between 25-50keV and 100-300keV is 20 +/- 5ms, consistent with the small or negligible lags measured for short bursts. The spectral and temporal properties of GRB 070707 are comparable to those of the short hard bursts detected by other gamma-ray satellites, including BATSE and Swift. We estimate a lower limit on the Lorentz factor Gamma >~ 25 for GRB 070707, assuming the typical redshift for short GRBs of z=0.35. This limit is consistent with previous estimates for short GRBs and is smaller than the lower limits of Gamma >~ 100 calculated for long GRBs. If GRB 070707 is a member of the recently postulated class of short GRBs at z ~ 1, the lower limit on Gamma increases to Gamma >~ 35.
GRB 051022 was detected at 13:07:58 on 22 October 2005 by HETE-2. The location of GRB 051022 was determined immediately by the flight localization system. This burst contains multiple pulses and has a rather long duration of about 190 seconds. The detections of candidate X-ray and radio afterglows were reported, whereas no optical afterglow was found. The optical spectroscopic observations of the host galaxy revealed the redshift z = 0.8. Using the data derived by HETE-2 observation of the prompt emission, we found the absorption N_H = 8.8 -2.9/+3.1 x 10^22 cm^-2 and the visual extinction A_V = 49 -16/+17 mag in the host galaxy. If this is the case, no detection of any optical transient would be quite reasonable. The absorption derived by the Swift XRT observations of the afterglow is fully consistent with those obtained from the early HETE-2 observation of the prompt emission. Our analysis implies an interpretation that the absorbing medium could be outside external shock at R ~ 10^16 cm, which may be a dusty molecular cloud.
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) fall into two classes: short-hard and long-soft bursts. The latter are now known to have X-ray and optical afterglows, to occur at cosmological distances in star-forming galaxies, and to be associated with the explosion of massive stars. In contrast, the distance scale, the energy scale, and the progenitors of short bursts have remained a mystery. Here we report the discovery of a short-hard burst whose accurate localization has led to follow-up observations that have identified the X-ray afterglow and (for the first time) the optical afterglow of a short-hard burst. These, in turn, have led to identification of the host galaxy of the burst as a late-type galaxy at z=0.16 showing that at least some short-hard bursts occur at cosmological distances in the outskirts of galaxies, and are likely to be due to the merging of compact binaries.
GRB 070724B is the first Gamma Ray Burst localized by SuperAGILE, the hard X-ray monitor aboard the AGILE satellite. The coordinates of the event were published $sim 19$ hours after the trigger. The Swift X-Ray Telescope pointed at the SuperAGILE location and detected the X-ray afterglow inside the SuperAGILE error circle. The AGILE gamma-ray Tracker and Minicalorimeter did not detect any significant gamma ray emission associated with GRB 070724B in the MeV and GeV range, neither prompt nor delayed. Searches of the optical afterglow were performed by the Swift UVOT and the Palomar automated 60-inch telescopes without any significant detection. Similarly the Very Large Array did not detect a radio afterglow. This is the first GRB event with a firm upper limit in the 100 MeV -- 30 GeV energy range, associated with an X-ray afterglow.