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We present detailed optical, near-infrared, and radio observations of the X-ray flash 050416a obtained with Palomar and Siding Springs Observatories as well as HST and the VLA, placing this event among the best-studied X-ray flashes to date. In addition, we present an optical spectrum from Keck LRIS from which we measure the redshift of the burst, z=0.6528. At this redshift the isotropic-equivalent prompt energy release was about 10^51 erg, and using a standard afterglow synchrotron model we find that the blastwave kinetic energy is a factor of 10 larger, E_K,iso ~ 10^52 erg. The lack of an observed jet break to t ~ 20 days indicates that the opening angle is larger than 7 deg and the total beaming-corrected relativistic energy is larger than 10^50 erg. We further show that the burst produced a strong radio flare at t ~ 40 days accompanied by an observed flattening in the X-ray band which we attribute to an abrupt circumburst density jump or an episode of energy injection (either from a refreshed shock or off-axis ejecta). Late-time observations with HST show evidence for an associated supernova with peak optical luminosity roughly comparable to that of SN 1998bw. Next, we show that the host galaxy of XRF 050416a is actively forming stars at a rate of at least 2 M_solar per year with a luminosity of L_B ~ 0.5L* and metallicity of Z ~ 0.2-0.8 Z_solar. Finally, we discuss the nature of XRF 050416a in the context of short-hard gamma-ray bursts and under the framework of off-axis and dirty fireball models for X-ray flashes.
We have developed a toy model for internal shocks which has been used to generate a large number of synthetic GRBs in order to find in the parameter space the conditions which can lead to the formation of X-ray flashes. The key condition appears to b
We discuss the origin of X-Ray Flashes (XRFs), a recently discovered class of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). Using a simplified model for internal shocks we check if XRFs can be intrinsically soft due to some specific values of the parameters describing th
In this work, we present a multi-wavelength study of XRF 040912, aimed at measuring its distance scale and the intrinsic burst properties. We performed a detailed spectral and temporal analysis of both the prompt and the afterglow emission and we est
We present the first fully simultaneous fits to the NIR and X-ray spectral slope (and its evolution) during a very bright flare from Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the Milky Ways center. Our study arises from ambitious multi-wavelength monito
We report the results of multiwavelength observations of the superluminal X-ray transient GRO J1655-40 during and following the prominent hard X-ray outburst of March-April 1995. GRO J1655-40 was continuously monitored by BATSE on board CGRO, and rep