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Register a new userObservations of GRB 990123 by the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory
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GRB 990123 was the first burst from which simultaneous optical, X-ray and gamma-ray emission was detected; its afterglow has been followed by an extensive set of radio, optical and X-ray observations. We have studied the gamma-ray burst itself as observed by the CGRO detectors. We find that gamma-ray fluxes are not correlated with the simultaneous optical observations, and the gamma-ray spectra cannot be extrapolated simply to the optical fluxes. The burst is well fit by the standard four-parameter GRB function, with the exception that excess emission compared to this function is observed below ~15 keV during some time intervals. The burst is characterized by the typical hard-to-soft and hardness-intensity correlation spectral evolution patterns. The energy of the peak of the nu f_nu spectrum, E_p, reaches an unusually high value during the first intensity spike, 1470 +/- 110 keV, and then falls to ~300 keV during the tail of the burst. The high-energy spectrum above ~MeV is consistent with a power law with a photon index of about -3. By fluence, GRB 990123 is brighter than all but 0.4% of the GRBs observed with BATSE, clearly placing it on the -3/2 power-law portion of the intensity distribution. However, the redshift measured for the afterglow is inconsistent with the Euclidean interpretation of the -3/2 power-law. Using the redshift value of >= 1.61 and assuming isotropic emission, the gamma-ray fluence exceeds 10E54 ergs.
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We have collected all of the published photometry for GRB 990123 and GRB 990510, the first two gamma-ray bursts where breaks were seen in the light curves of their optical afterglows, and determined the shapes of their light curves and the break times. These parameters were used to investigate the physical mechanisms responsible for the breaks and the nature of the ambient medium that the bursts occurred in. The light curve for GRB 990123 is best fit by a broken power law with a break 1.68 +/- 0.19 days after the burst, a slope of alpha1 = -1.12 +/- 0.08 before the break, and a slope of alpha2 = -1.69 +/- 0.06 after the break. This is consistent with a collimated outflow with a fixed opening angle (theta0) of approximately five degrees. In this case the break in the light curve is due to the relativistic fireball slowing to a gamma factor of approximately 1 / theta0. The light curve for GRB 990510 is best fit by a continuous function with an early-time slope of alpha1 = -0.54 +/- 0.14, a late-time slope of alpha2 = -1.98 +/- 0.19, and a slow transition between the two regimes approximately one day after the burst. This is consistent with a collimated outflow with an opening angle of approximately five degrees that is initially radiative, but undergoes a sideways expansion that begins approximately one day after the burst. This sideways expansion is responsible for the slow break in the light curve.
We present deep images of the field of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 990123 obtained in a broad-band UV/visible bandpass with the Hubble Space Telescope, and deep near-infrared images obtained with the Keck-I 10-m telescope. Both the HST and Keck images show that the optical transient (OT) is clearly offset by 0.6 arcsec from an extended object, presumably the host galaxy. This galaxy is the most likely source of the metallic-line absorption at z = 1.6004 seen in the spectrum of the OT. With magnitudes V_{C} ~ 24.6 +/- 0.2 and K = 21.65 +/- 0.30 mag this corresponds to an L ~ 0.7 L_* galaxy, assuming that it is located at z = 1.6. The estimated unobscured star formation rate is SFR ~ 6 M_sun/yr, which is not unusually high for normal galaxies at comparable redshifts. The strength of the observed metallic absorption lines is suggestive of a relatively high metallicity of the gas, and thus of a chemically evolved system which may be associated with a massive galaxy. It is also indicative of a high column density of the gas, typical of damped Ly-alpha systems at high redshifts. We conclude that this is the host galaxy of GRB 990123. No other obvious galaxies are detected within the same projected radius from the OT. There is thus no evidence for strong gravitational lensing magnification of this burst, and some alternative explanation for its remarkable energetics may be required. The observed offset of the OT from the center of its apparent host galaxy, 5.5 +/- 0.9 proper kpc (projected) in the galaxys rest-frame, both refutes the possibility that GRBs are related to galactic nuclear activity and supports models of GRBs which involve the death and/or merger of massive stars. Further, the HST image suggests an intimate connection of GRB 990123 and a star-forming region.
We describe measurements of GeV and TeV cosmic rays with the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory, or HAWC. The measurements include the observation of the shadow of the moon; the observation of small-scale and large-scale angular clustering of the TeV cosmic rays; the prospects for measurement of transient solar events with HAWC; and the observation of Forbush decreases with the HAWC engineering array and HAWC-30.
The long, bright gamma-ray burst GRB 070125 was localized by the Interplanetary Network. We present light curves of the prompt gamma-ray emission as observed by Konus-WIND, RHESSI, Suzaku-WAM, and textit{Swift}-BAT. We detail the results of joint spectral fits with Konus and RHESSI data. The burst shows moderate hard-to-soft evolution in its multi-peaked emission over a period of about one minute. The total burst fluence as observed by Konus is $1.79 times 10^{-4}$ erg/cm$^2$ (20 keV--10 MeV). Using the spectroscopic redshift $z=1.548$, we find that the burst is consistent with the ``Amati $E_{peak,i}-E_{iso}$ correlation. Assuming a jet opening angle derived from broadband modeling of the burst afterglow, GRB 070125 is a significant outlier to the ``Ghirlanda $E_{peak,i}-E_gamma$ correlation. Its collimation-corrected energy release $E_gamma = 2.5 times 10^{52}$ ergs is the largest yet observed.
The first limits on the prompt emission from the long gamma-ray burst (GRB) 130427A in the $>100 obreakspacerm{GeV}$ energy band are reported. GRB 130427A was the most powerful burst ever detected with a redshift $zlesssim0.5$ and featured the longest lasting emission above $100 obreakspacerm{MeV}$. The energy spectrum extends at least up to $95 obreakspacerm{GeV}$, clearly in the range observable by the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Gamma-ray Observatory, a new extensive air shower detector currently under construction in central Mexico. The burst occurred under unfavourable observation conditions, low in the sky and when HAWC was running 10% of the final detector. Based on the observed light curve at MeV-GeV energies, eight different time periods have been searched for prompt and delayed emission from this GRB. In all cases, no statistically significant excess of counts has been found and upper limits have been placed. It is shown that a similar GRB close to zenith would be easily detected by the full HAWC detector, which will be completed soon. The detection rate of the full HAWC detector may be as high as one to two GRBs per year. A detection could provide important information regarding the high energy processes at work and the observation of a possible cut-off beyond the $mathit{Fermi}$-LAT energy range could be the signature of gamma-ray absorption, either in the GRB or along the line of sight due to the extragalactic background light.
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