Issue |
A&A
Volume 439, Number 2, August IV 2005
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | L15 - L18 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:200500147 | |
Published online | 29 July 2005 |
Letter to the Editor
GRB 050509b: the elusive optical/nIR/mm afterglow of a short-duration GRB
1
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), PO Box 3.004, 18.080 Granada, Spain e-mail: ajct@iaa.es
2
Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Karanchai-Cherkessia, Nizniy-Arkhyz, 357147, Russia
3
Institute de Radioastronomie Milimetrique (IRAM), 300 rue de la Piscine, 38406 Saint-Martin-d'Hères, France
4
Nikolaev State University, Nikolskaya 24, 54.030 Nikolaev, Ukraine
5
Astronomical Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 25165 Ondřejov, Czech Republic
6
Fakulta electrotechnická, Czech Technical University, 121 35 Praha, Czech Republic
7
Dept. de Ing. Electrónica, Sistemas Informáticos y Automática, Univ. de Huelva, 21.819 Palos de la Frontera (Huelva), Spain
8
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Observatoire, 1290 Sauverny, Switzerland
9
Departamento de Física (EPS), Univ. de Jaén, Campus Las Lagunillas, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Received:
27
May
2005
Accepted:
26
June
2005
We present multiwavelength (optical/near infrared/millimetre)
observations of a short duration gamma-ray burst detected by Swift (GRB 050509b) collected between 0 seconds and ~18.8 days after the event. No
optical, near infrared or millimetre emission has been detected in spite
of the well localised X-ray afterglow, confirming
the elusiveness of the short duration events. We also discuss the
possibility of the burst being located in
a cluster of galaxies at or beyond.
In the former case, the
spectral energy distribution of the neighbouring, potential host galaxy,
favours a system harbouring an evolved dominant stellar
population (age ~360 Myr), unlike most long duration GRB host
galaxies observed so far, i.e. thus giving support to a compact binary
merger origin. Any underlying supernova that could be associated
with this particular event should have been at least 3 magnitudes fainter
than the type Ib/c SN 1998bw and 2.3 mag fainter
than a typical type Ia SN.
Key words: gamma rays: bursts / techniques: photometric / cosmology: observations
© ESO, 2005
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