Radio and X-ray observations of the Ultra-long GRB 150518A
Abstract
Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) 150518A, discovered on 2015 May 18 by the MAXI and KONUS-Wind satellites, lasted for about 1000s, making it an important addition to the recently established class of very long duration GRBs. We report on the JVLA radio observations of the afterglow of GRB 150518A. Additionally, we report the analysis of Xray afterglow observations by Swift-XRT. Multi-band light curves of the radio afterglow display an unusual, conspicuous rise around 10 days after the burst, possibly due to enhanced mass-loss from the progenitor in the final stages of evolution before the GRB. The X-ray afterglow spectrum is significantly soft (photon index Γx > 3) and heavily absorbed (NHx,i > 8 × 10^{21}/cm^2). These properties suggest peculiar behavior that is different from the predictions of the standard fireball model of GRBs. In the light of these properties, we compare different models of progenitors for very long duration GRBs. This work was supported in part by the NSF REU and DoD ASSURE programs under NSF grant no. 1262851 and by the Smithsonian Institution.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #227
- Pub Date:
- January 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AAS...22734004J