The Afterglow and Early-type Host Galaxy of the Short GRB 150101B at z = 0.1343
Abstract
We present the discovery of the X-ray and optical afterglows of the short-duration GRB 150101B, pinpointing the event to an early-type host galaxy at z = 0.1343 ± 0.0030. This makes GRB 150101B the most nearby short gamma-ray burst (GRB) with an early-type host galaxy discovered to date. Fitting the spectral energy distribution of the host galaxy results in an inferred stellar mass of ≈ 7× {10}10 {M}⊙ , stellar population age of ≈2-2.5 Gyr, and star formation rate of ≲0.4 M ⊙ yr-1. The host of GRB 150101B is one of the largest and most luminous short GRB host galaxies, with a B-band luminosity of ≈ 4.3{L}* and half-light radius of ≈8 kpc. GRB 150101B is located at a projected distance of 7.35 ± 0.07 kpc from its host center and lies on a faint region of its host rest-frame optical light. Its location, combined with the lack of associated supernova, is consistent with an NS-NS/NS-BH merger progenitor. From modeling the evolution of the broadband afterglow, we calculate isotropic-equivalent gamma-ray and kinetic energies of ≈ 1.3× {10}49 erg and ≈ (6{--}14)× {10}51 erg, respectively, a circumburst density of ≈ (0.8{--}4)× {10}-5 cm-3, and a jet opening angle of ≳9°. Using observations extending to ≈30 days, we place upper limits of ≲ (2{--}4)× {10}41 erg s-1 on associated kilonova emission. We compare searches following previous short GRBs to existing kilonova models and demonstrate the difficulty of performing effective kilonova searches from cosmological short GRBs using current ground-based facilities. We show that at the Advanced LIGO/VIRGO horizon distance of 200 Mpc, searches reaching depths of ≈23-24 AB mag are necessary to probe a meaningful range of kilonova models.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- DOI:
- 10.3847/1538-4357/833/2/151
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1608.08626
- Bibcode:
- 2016ApJ...833..151F
- Keywords:
-
- gamma-ray burst: individual: 150101B;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 13 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to ApJ