The dust depletion and extinction of the GRB 020813 afterglow
Abstract
The Keck optical spectrum of the GRB 020813 afterglow is the best ever obtained for GRBs. Its large spectral range and very high S/N ratio allowed for the first time the detection of a vast variety of absorption lines, associated with the circumburst medium or interstellar medium of the host. The remarkable similarity of the relative abundances of 8 elements with the dust depletion pattern seen in the Galactic ISM suggests the presence of dust. The derived visual dust extinction A V = 0.40±0.06 contradicts the featureless UV spectrum of the afterglow, very well described by a unreddened power law. The forthcoming Swift era will open exciting opportunities to explain similar phenomena in other GRB afterglows.
- Publication:
-
Nuovo Cimento C Geophysics Space Physics C
- Pub Date:
- July 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1393/ncc/i2005-10102-9
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0506062
- Bibcode:
- 2005NCimC..28..541S
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- To be published in "Il Nuovo Cimento", Proceedings of the 4th Rome Workshop on Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era, eds. L. Piro, L. Amati, S. Covino, B. Gendre