Issue |
A&A
Volume 459, Number 1, November III 2006
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | L5 - L8 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20066015 | |
Published online | 26 September 2006 |
Letter to the Editor
GRB 050223: a dark GRB in a dusty starburst galaxy
1
Laboratoire AIM (UMR 7158), Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, L'Orme des Merisiers, Bât. 709, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
2
Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio (CONICET/UBA) C.C. 67, Suc. 28, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina e-mail: pellizza@iafe.uba.ar
3
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
4
Chercheur Associé, Observatoire de Paris, 75014 Paris, France
5
European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Santiago 19, Chile (on leave from CEA Saclay, France)
6
INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, via di Frascati 33, 00040 Monteporzio Catone (Roma), Italy
7
INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate (LC), Italy
8
Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, Dipartimento di Fisica, piazza delle Scienze 3, 20126 Milano, Italy
9
INAF, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
10
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Science Data Center, via di Villa Grazioli, 00198 Roma, Italy
11
Laboratoire Astroparticule et Cosmologie, UMR 7164, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
12
INAF-IASF, Sezione di Roma, via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, 00133 Roma, Italy
13
Scuola Normale Superiore, piazza dei Cavalieri 7, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Received:
11
July
2006
Accepted:
30
August
2006
Aims.We aim at detecting and determining the properties of the host galaxy of the dark GRB 050223.
Methods.We use VLT optical/NIR images coupled to Swift X-ray positioning, and optical spectra of the host galaxy to measure its properties.
Results.We find a single galaxy within the Swift error
box of GRB 050223. It is located at and its luminosity is
L*. Emission lines in the galaxy spectrum imply an intrinsic
yr-1, and a large extinction
mag within it. We also detect absorption lines, which reveal an underlying
stellar population with an age between 40 Myr and 1.5 Gyr.
Conclusions.The identification of a host galaxy with atypical properties using only the X-ray transient suggests that a bias may be present in the former sample of host galaxies. Dust obscuration together with intrinsic faintness are the most probable causes for the darkness of this burst.
Key words: gamma rays: bursts / galaxies: starburst
© ESO, 2006
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