- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/720/862
- Title:
- Afterglow light curve of GRB 090926A
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/720/862
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present VLT/FORS2 spectroscopy and Gamma-ray Optical/Near-Infrared Detector optical/near-IR photometry of the afterglow of the bright Fermi/LAT GRB 090926A. The spectrum shows prominent Lyman-{alpha} absorption with N_HI_=10^21.73+/-0.07^cm^-2^ and a multitude of metal lines at a common redshift of z=2.1062+/-0.0004, which we associate with the redshift of the gamma-ray burst (GRB). The metallicity derived from SII is log(Z/Z_{sun}_)~-1.9, one of the lowest values ever found in a GRB Damped Lyman-{alpha} (DLA) system. This confirms that the spread of metallicity in GRB-DLAs at z~2 is at least two orders of magnitude. We argue that this spread in metallicity does not require a similar range in abundances of the GRB progenitors, since the neutral interstellar medium probed by the DLA is expected to be at a significant distance from the explosion site. The hydrogen column density derived from the Swift/XRT afterglow spectrum (assuming log(Z/Z_{sun}_)~-1.9) is ~100 times higher than the N_HI_ obtained from the Lyman-{alpha} absorptions. This suggests either a large column density of ionized gas or a higher metallicity of the circum-burst medium compared to the gas traced by the DLA. We also discuss the afterglow light curve evolution and energetics. The absence of a clear jet-break like steeping until at least 21 days post-burst suggests a beaming-corrected energy release of E_{gamma}_>3.5x10^52^erg, indicating that GRB 090926A may have been one of the most energetic bursts ever detected.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/752/61
- Title:
- Blazars in unidentified {gamma}-ray sources
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/752/61
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- One of the main scientific objectives of the ongoing Fermi mission is unveiling the nature of unidentified {gamma}-ray sources (UGSs). Despite the major improvements of Fermi in the localization of {gamma}-ray sources with respect to the past {gamma}-ray missions, about one-third of the Fermi-detected objects are still not associated with low-energy counterparts. Recently, using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer survey, we discovered that blazars, the rarest class of active galactic nuclei and the largest population of {gamma}-ray sources, can be recognized and separated from other extragalactic sources on the basis of their infrared (IR) colors. Based on this result, we designed an association method for the {gamma}-ray sources to recognize if there is a blazar candidate within the positional uncertainty region of a generic {gamma}-ray source. With this new IR diagnostic tool, we searched for {gamma}-ray blazar candidates associated with the UGS sample of the second Fermi {gamma}-ray LAT catalog (2FGL). We found that our method associates at least one {gamma}-ray blazar candidate as a counterpart to each of 156 out of 313 UGSs analyzed. These new low-energy candidates have the same IR properties as the blazars associated with {gamma}-ray sources in the 2FGL catalog.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/206/12
- Title:
- Blazars with {gamma}-ray counterparts. I.
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/206/12
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a new method for identifying blazar candidates by examining the locus, i.e., the region occupied by the Fermi {gamma}-ray blazars in the three-dimensional color space defined by the WISE infrared colors. This method is a refinement of our previous approach that made use of the two-dimensional projection of the distribution of WISE {gamma}-ray-emitting blazars (the Strip) in the three WISE color-color planes. In this paper, we define the three-dimensional locus by means of a principal component analysis of the color distribution of a large sample of blazars composed of all the ROMA-BZCAT sources with counterparts in the WISE All-Sky Catalog associated with {gamma}-ray sources in the second Fermi-LAT catalog (2FGL; the WISE Fermi blazars sample, WFB). Our new procedure yields a total completeness of c_tot_~81% and a total efficiency of e_tot_~97%. We also obtain local estimates of the efficiency and completeness as functions of the WISE colors and galactic coordinates of the candidate blazars. The catalog of all WISE candidate blazars associated with the WFB sample is also presented, complemented by archival multi-frequency information for the alternative associations. Finally, we apply the new association procedure to all {gamma}-ray blazars in the 2FGL and provide a catalog containing all the {gamma}-ray candidate blazars selected according to our procedure.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/206/13
- Title:
- Blazars with {gamma}-ray counterparts. II.
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/206/13
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- A significant fraction (~30%) of the high-energy gamma-ray sources listed in the second Fermi Large Area Telescope catalog (2FGL) are still of unknown origin, being not yet associated with counterparts at low energies. We recently developed a new association method to identify if there is a {gamma}-ray blazar candidate within the positional uncertainty region of a generic 2FGL source. This method is entirely based on the discovery that blazars have distinct infrared colors with respect to other extragalactic sources found, thanks to the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) all-sky observations. Several improvements have also been performed to increase the efficiency of our method in recognizing {gamma}-ray blazar candidates. In this paper we applied our method to two different samples, the first constituted by unidentified {gamma}-ray sources (UGSs), and the second by active galaxies of uncertain type, both listed in the 2FGL. We present a catalog of IR counterparts for ~20% of the UGSs investigated. Then, we also compare our results for the associated sources with those present in the literature. In addition, we illustrate the extensive archival research carried out to identify the radio, infrared, optical, and X-ray counterparts of the WISE-selected, {gamma}-ray blazar candidates. Finally, we discuss the future developments of our method based on ground-based follow-up observations.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/207/16
- Title:
- BL Lac candidates for TeV observations
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/207/16
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- BL Lac objects are the most numerous class of extragalactic TeV-detected sources. One of the biggest difficulties in investigating their TeV emission is due to their limited number, since only 47 BL Lac objects are known to be TeV emitters. In this paper, we propose new criteria to select TeV BL Lac candidates based on infrared and X-ray observations. We apply our selection criteria to the BL Lac objects listed in the ROMA-BZCAT catalog (Cat. J/A+A/495/691), thereby identifying 41 potential TeV emitters. We then perform a search over a more extended sample combining the ROSAT bright source catalog (Cat. IX/10) and the WISE all-sky survey (Cat. II/311), revealing 54 additional candidates for TeV observations. Our investigation also led to a tentative classification of 16 unidentified X-ray sources as BL Lac candidates. This analysis provides new interesting BL Lac targets for future observations with ground-based Cherenkov telescopes.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/691/723
- Title:
- BVIJHKs observations of GRB 080319B
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/691/723
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The first gamma-ray burst (GRB) confirmed to be bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, GRB 080319B at redshift z=0.937, allowed for exquisite follow-up observations across the electromagnetic spectrum. We present our detailed optical and infrared (IR) observations of the afterglow, consisting of over 5000 images starting 51s after the GRB trigger, in concert with our own analysis of the Swift UVOT, Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), and XRT data. The event is extreme not only in observed properties but also intrinsically: it was the most luminous event ever recorded at optical and IR wavelengths and had an exceedingly high isotropic-equivalent energy release in {gamma}-rays. At early times, the afterglow evolution is broadly consistent with being reverse-shock dominated, but then is subsumed by a forward shock at around 1000s. The overall spectral energy distribution, spanning from ultraviolet through near-IR wavelengths, shows no evidence for a significant amount of dust extinction in the host frame. The afterglow evolution, however, is highly chromatic: starting at about 1000s the index shifts blueward before shifting back to the red at late times. In our deepest late-time observations, we find tentative evidence for an optical jet break and a luminous supernova. Finally, we examine the detectability of such events with current and future facilities and find that such an event could be detected in gamma rays by BAT out to z=10.7 (8{sigma}), while the nominal EXIST sensitivity would allow detection to z~32. At the K band, this source would have been easily detected with meter-class telescopes to z~17.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/693/1484
- Title:
- Early optical afterglow catalog
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/693/1484
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present multicolor optical observations of long-duration {gamma}-ray bursts (GRBs) made over a three-year period with the robotic Palomar 60 inch telescope (P60). Our sample consists of all 29 events discovered by Swift for which P60 began observations less than 1hr after the burst trigger. We were able to recover 80% of the optical afterglows from this prompt sample, and we attribute this high efficiency to our red coverage. Like Melandri et al. (2008, Cat. J/ApJ/686/1209), we find that a significant fraction (~50%) of Swift events show a suppression of the optical flux with regard to the X-ray emission (the so-called "dark" bursts). Our multicolor photometry demonstrates this is likely due in large part to extinction in the host galaxy. We argue that previous studies, by selecting only the brightest and best-sampled optical afterglows, have significantly underestimated the amount of dust present in typical GRB environments.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/831/89
- Title:
- Eclipsing LMXB at the center of 3FGL J0427.9-6704
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/831/89
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We report the discovery of an eclipsing low-mass X-ray binary at the center of the 3FGL error ellipse of the unassociated Fermi/Large Area Telescope {gamma}-ray source 3FGL J0427.9-6704. Photometry from OGLE and the SMARTS 1.3m telescope and spectroscopy from the SOAR telescope have allowed us to classify the system as an eclipsing low-mass X-ray binary (P=8.8hr) with a main-sequence donor and a neutron-star accretor. Broad double-peaked H and He emission lines suggest the ongoing presence of an accretion disk. Remarkably, the system shows separate sets of absorption lines associated with the accretion disk and the secondary, and we use their radial velocities to find evidence for a massive (~1.8-1.9M_{sun}_) neutron-star primary. In addition to a total X-ray eclipse with a duration of ~2200s observed with NuSTAR, the X-ray light curve also shows properties similar to those observed among known transitional millisecond pulsars: short-term variability, a hard power-law spectrum ({Gamma}~1.7), and a comparable 0.5-10keV luminosity (~2.4x10^33^erg/s). We find tentative evidence for a partial (~60%) {gamma}-ray eclipse at the same phase as the X-ray eclipse, suggesting the {gamma}-ray emission may not be confined to the immediate region of the compact object. The favorable inclination of this binary is promising for future efforts to determine the origin of {gamma}-rays among accreting neutron stars.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/VII/287
- Title:
- Extragalactic linear polarization meas. agglomeration
- Short Name:
- VII/287
- Date:
- 22 Feb 2022
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- In the framework of the Standard Model Extension (SME), we present improved constraints on anisotropic Lorentz invariance and Charge-Parity-Time (CPT) violation by searching for astrophysical signals of cosmic vacuum birefringence with broadband optical polarimetry of high redshift astronomical sources, including Active Galactic Nuclei and Gamma-Ray Burst afterglows. We generalize Kislat (Constraints on lorentz invariance violation from optical polarimetry of astrophysical objects. Symmetry, 10(11), 2018. ISSN 2073-8994. doi:10.3390/sym10110596), which studied the SME mass dimension d=4 case, to arbitrary mass dimension for both the CPT-even and CPT-odd cases. We then present constraints on all 10, 16, and 42 anisotropic birefringent SME coefficients for dimension d=4, d=5, and d=6 models respectively, using 7554 observations for odd d and 7376 observations for even d of 1278 unique sources on the sky, which, to our knowledge comprises the most complete catalog of optical polarization from extragalactic sources in the literature to date. Compared to the smaller sample of 44 and 45 broadband optical polarimetry observations analyzed in Kislat (Constraints on lorentz invariance violation from optical polarimetry of astrophysical objects. Symmetry, 10(11), 2018. ISSN 2073-8994. doi:10.3390/sym10110596) and Kislat et al. (2017 Phys. Rev. D, 95(8):083013, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.083013), our dimension d=4 and d=5 average constraints are more sensitive by factors of 35 and 10, corresponding to a reduction in allowed SME parameter space volume for these studies of 15 and 16 orders of magnitude, respectively. Constraints from individual lines of sight can be significantly stronger using spectropolarimetry, due to the steep energy dependence of birefringence effects at increasing mass dimension. Nevertheless, due to the increased number of observations and lines of sight in our catalog, our average d=4 and d=5 broadband constraints are within factors of 2 and 12 of previous constraints using spectropolarimetry from Kislat (Constraints on lorentz invariance violation from optical polarimetry of astrophysical objects. Symmetry, 10(11), 2018. ISSN 2073-8994. doi:10.3390/sym10110596) and Kislat et al. (2017, Phys. Rev. D 95(8):083013, doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.083013), respectively, using an independent data set and an improved analysis method. By contrast, our anisotropic constraints on all 42 birefringent SME coefficients for d=6 are the first to be presented in the literature.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/806/52
- Title:
- 8 Fermi GRB afterglows follow-up
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/806/52
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has greatly expanded the number and energy window of observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, the coarse localizations of tens to a hundred square degrees provided by the Fermi GRB Monitor instrument have posed a formidable obstacle to locating the bursts' host galaxies, measuring their redshifts, and tracking their panchromatic afterglows. We have built a target-of-opportunity (TOO) mode for the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) in order to perform targeted searches for Fermi afterglows. Here, we present the results of one year of this program: 8 afterglow discoveries out of 35 searches. Two of the bursts with detected afterglows (GRBs 130702A and 140606B) were at low redshift (z=0.145 and 0.384, respectively) and had spectroscopically confirmed broad-line Type Ic supernovae. We present our broadband follow-up including spectroscopy as well as X-ray, UV, optical, millimeter, and radio observations. We study possible selection effects in the context of the total Fermi and Swift GRB samples. We identify one new outlier on the Amati relation. We find that two bursts are consistent with a mildly relativistic shock breaking out from the progenitor star rather than the ultra-relativistic internal shock mechanism that powers standard cosmological bursts. Finally, in the context of the Zwicky Transient Facility, we discuss how we will continue to expand this effort to find optical counterparts of binary neutron star mergers that may soon be detected by Advanced LIGO and Virgo.
