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We present ground-based optical and Hubble Space Telescope optical and near-IR observations of the short-hard GRB130603B at z=0.356, which demonstrate the presence of excess near-IR emission matching the expected brightness and color of an r-process powered transient (a kilonova). The early afterglow fades rapidly with alpha<-2.6 at t~8-32 hr post-burst and has a spectral index of beta=-1.5 (F_nu t^alpha*nu^beta), leading to an expected near-IR brightness at the time of the first HST observation of m(F160W)>29.3 AB mag. Instead, the detected source has m(F160W)=25.8+/-0.2 AB mag, corresponding to a rest-frame absolute magnitude of M(J)=-15.2 mag. The upper limit in the HST optical observations is m(F606W)>27.7 AB mag (3-sigma), indicating an unusually red color of V-H>1.9 mag. Comparing the observed near-IR luminosity to theoretical models of kilonovae produced by ejecta from the merger of an NS-NS or NS-BH binary, we infer an ejecta mass of M_ej~0.03-0.08 Msun for v_ej=0.1-0.3c. The inferred mass matches the expectations from numerical merger simulations. The presence of a kilonova provides the strongest evidence to date that short GRBs are produced by compact object mergers, and provides initial insight on the ejected mass and the primary role that compact object merger may play in the r-process. Equally important, it demonstrates that gravitational wave sources detected by Advanced LIGO/Virgo will be accompanied by optical/near-IR counterparts with unusually red colors, detectable by existing and upcoming large wide-field facilities (e.g., Pan-STARRS, DECam, Subaru, LSST).
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 galaxys center. We present X-ray, op
We present early optical photometry and spectroscopy of the afterglow and host galaxy of the bright short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 130603B discovered by the Swift satellite. Using the Gemini South telescope, our prompt optical spectra reveal a st
Short duration gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) are thought to be related to the violent merger of compact objects, such as neutron stars or black holes, which makes them promising sources of gravitational waves. The detection of a kilonova-like signature as
The first detected gravitational wave GW170817 from a binary neutron star merger is associated with an important optical transient AT 2017gfo, which is a direct observation of kilonova. Recent observations suggest that the remnant compact object of t
We report our identification of the optical afterglow and host galaxy of the short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 160821B. The spectroscopic redshift of the host is $z=0.162$, making it one of the lowest redshift sGRBs identified by Swift. Our intensiv