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Register a new userStellar Forensics with the Supernova-GRB Connection
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Authors
Maryam Modjaz
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Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and Type Ib/c Supernovae (SNe Ib/c) are amongst natures most magnificent explosions. While GRBs launch relativistic jets, SNe Ib/c are core-collapse explosions whose progenitors have been stripped of their hydrogen and helium envelopes. Yet for over a decade, one of the key outstanding questions is which conditions lead to each kind of explosion and death in massive stars. Determining the fates of massive stars is not only a vibrant topic in itself, but also impacts using GRBs as star formation indicators over distances of up to 13 billion light-years and for mapping the chemical enrichment history of the universe. This article reviews a number of comprehensive observational studies that probe the progenitor environments, their metallicities and the explosion geometries of SN with and without GRBs, as well as the emerging field of SN environmental studies. Furthermore, it discusses SN 2008D/XRT 080109 that was discovered serendipitously with the Swift satellite via its X-ray emission from shock breakout, and that has generated great interest amongst both observers and theorists while illustrating a novel technique for stellar forensics. The article concludes with an outlook on how the most promising venues of research - with the existing and upcoming innovative large-scale surveys such as the Palomar Transient Factory and LSST - will shed new light on the diverse deaths of massive stars.
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During the last ten years, observations of long-duration gamma-ray bursts brought to the conclusion that at least a fraction of them is associated with bright supernovae of type Ib/c. In this talk, after a short review on the previously observed GRB-SN connection cases, we present the recent case of GRB 100316/SN 2010bh. In particular, during the observational campaign of SN 2010bh, a pivotal role was played by VLT/X-shooter, sampling with unique high quality data the spectral energy distribution of the early evolution phases from the UV to the K band.
As starburst galaxies show a star formation rate up to several hundred times larger than the one in a typical galaxy, the expected supernova rate is higher than average. This in turn implies a high rate of long gamma ray bursts (GRBs), which are extreme supernova events. We present a catalog of 127 local starburst galaxies with redshifts of z<0.03. Using this catalog we investigate the possibility of detecting neutrinos from Gamma Ray Bursts from nearby starburst galaxies. We show that the rate of long GRBs is correlated to the supernova rate which in turn is correlated to the far infrared output. For the entire catalog, 0.03 GRB per year are expected to occur. The true number can even be higher since only the brightest sources were included in the catalog.
We better determine the spectral flux distribution of the supernova candidate associated with GRB 970228 by modeling the spectral flux distribution of the host galaxy of this burst, fitting this model to measurements of the host galaxy, and using the fitted model to better subtract out the contribution of the host galaxy to measurements of the afterglow of this burst.
We report the Swift discovery of nearby long, soft gamma-ray burst GRB 100316D, and the subsequent unveiling of its low redshift host galaxy and associated supernova. We derive the redshift of the event to be z = 0.0591 +/- 0.0001 and provide accurate astrometry for the GRB-SN. We study the extremely unusual prompt emission with time-resolved gamma-ray to X-ray spectroscopy, and find that the spectrum is best modelled with a thermal component in addition to a synchrotron emission component with a low peak energy. The X-ray light curve has a remarkably shallow decay out to at least 800 s. The host is a bright, blue galaxy with a highly disturbed morphology and we use Gemini South, VLT and HST observations to measure some of the basic host galaxy properties. We compare and contrast the X-ray emission and host galaxy of GRB 100316D to a subsample of GRB-SNe. GRB 100316D is unlike the majority of GRB-SNe in its X-ray evolution, but resembles rather GRB 060218, and we find that these two events have remarkably similar high energy prompt emission properties. Comparison of the host galaxies of GRB-SNe demonstrates, however, that there is a great diversity in the environments in which GRB-SNe can be found. GRB 100316D is an important addition to the currently sparse sample of spectroscopically confirmed GRB-SNe, from which a better understanding of long GRB progenitors and the GRB--SN connection can be gleaned.
We present observations of supernova (SN) 2008ge, which is spectroscopically similar to the peculiar SN 2002cx, and its pre-explosion site that indicate that its progenitor was probably a white dwarf. NGC 1527, the host galaxy of SN 2008ge, is an S0 galaxy with no evidence of star formation or massive stars. Astrometrically matching late-time imaging of SN 2008ge to pre-explosion HST imaging, we constrain the luminosity of the progenitor star. Since SN 2008ge has no indication of hydrogen or helium in its spectrum, its progenitor must have lost its outer layers before exploding, requiring that it be a white dwarf, a Wolf-Rayet star, or a lower-mass star in a binary system. Observations of the host galaxy show no signs of individual massive stars, star clusters, or H II regions at the SN position or anywhere else, making a Wolf-Rayet progenitor unlikely. Late-time spectroscopy of SN 2008ge show strong [Fe II] lines with large velocity widths compared to other members of this class at similar epochs. These previously unseen features indicate that a significant amount of the SN ejecta is Fe (presumably the result of radioactive decay of 56Ni generated in the SN), further supporting a thermonuclear explosion. Placing the observations of SN 2008ge in the context of observations of other objects in the class of SN, we suggest that the progenitor was most likely a white dwarf.
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