Multi-wavelength afterglow observations of the high redshift GRB 050730

Context: .GRB 050730 is a long duration high-redshift burst (z=3.967) that was discovered by Swift. The afterglow shows variability and was well monitored over a wide wavelength range. We present comprehensive temporal and spectral analysis of the afterglow of GRB 050730 including observations covering the wavelength range from the millimeter to X-rays.
Aims: .We use multi-wavelength afterglow data to understand the complex temporal and spectral decay properties of this high redshift burst.
Methods: .Five telescopes were used to study the decaying afterglow of GRB 050730 in the B, V, r', R, i', I, J and K photometric pass bands. A spectral energy distribution was constructed at 2.9 h post-burst in the B, V, R, I, J and K bands. X-ray data from the satellites Swift and XMM-Newton were used to study the afterglow evolution at higher energies.
Results: .The early afterglow shows variability at early times and the slope steepens at 0.1 days (8.6 ks) in the B, V, r', R, i', I, J and K passbands. The early afterglow light curve decayed with a powerlaw slope index α₁ = -0.60±0.07 and subsequently steepened to α₂ = -1.71±0.06 based on the R and I band data. A millimeter detection of the afterglow around 3 days after the burst shows an excess in comparison to theoretical predictions. The early X-ray light curve observed by Swift is complex and contains flares. At late times the X-ray light curve can be fit by a powerlaw decay with α_x = -2.5±0.15 which is steeper than the optical light curve. A spectral energy distribution (SED) was constructed at ~2.9 h after the burst. An electron energy index, p, of ~2.3 was calculated using the SED and the photon index from the X-ray afterglow spectra and implies that the synchrotron cooling frequency ν_c is above the X-ray band.