Discovery of the afterglow and host galaxy of the low-redshift short GRB 080905A

A. Rowlinson...[et al.]; K. Wiersema; A. J. Levan; Jens Hjorth; Christina Thöne; Johan Peter Uldall Fynbo

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17115.x

Discovery of the afterglow and host galaxy of the low-redshift short GRB 080905A

A. Rowlinson...[et al.], K. Wiersema, A. J. Levan, Jens Hjorth, Christina Thöne, Johan Peter Uldall Fynbo

69 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present the discovery of short GRB 080905A, its optical afterglow and host galaxy. Initially discovered by Swift, our deep optical observations enabled the identification of a faint optical afterglow, and subsequently a face-on spiral host galaxy underlying the GRB position, with a chance alignment probability of <1 per cent. There is no supernova component present in the afterglow to deep limits. Spectroscopy of the galaxy provides a redshift of z= 0.1218, the lowest redshift yet observed for a short GRB. The GRB lies offset from the host galaxy centre by ~ 18.5 kpc, in the northern spiral arm which exhibits an older stellar population than the southern arm. No emission lines are visible directly under the burst position, implying little ongoing star formation at the burst location. These properties would naturally be explained were the progenitor of GRB 080905A a compact binary merger.

Original language	English
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	408
Issue number	1
Pages (from-to)	383-391
Number of pages	8
ISSN	0035-8711
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17115.x
Publication status	Published - 11 Oct 2010

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title = "Discovery of the afterglow and host galaxy of the low-redshift short GRB 080905A",

abstract = "We present the discovery of short GRB 080905A, its optical afterglow and host galaxy. Initially discovered by Swift, our deep optical observations enabled the identification of a faint optical afterglow, and subsequently a face-on spiral host galaxy underlying the GRB position, with a chance alignment probability of <1 per cent. There is no supernova component present in the afterglow to deep limits. Spectroscopy of the galaxy provides a redshift of z= 0.1218, the lowest redshift yet observed for a short GRB. The GRB lies offset from the host galaxy centre by ~ 18.5 kpc, in the northern spiral arm which exhibits an older stellar population than the southern arm. No emission lines are visible directly under the burst position, implying little ongoing star formation at the burst location. These properties would naturally be explained were the progenitor of GRB 080905A a compact binary merger.",

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doi = "10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17115.x",

language = "English",

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T1 - Discovery of the afterglow and host galaxy of the low-redshift short GRB 080905A

AU - Rowlinson...[et al.], A.

AU - Wiersema, K.

AU - Levan, A. J.

AU - Hjorth, Jens

AU - Thöne, Christina

AU - Fynbo, Johan Peter Uldall

PY - 2010/10/11

Y1 - 2010/10/11

N2 - We present the discovery of short GRB 080905A, its optical afterglow and host galaxy. Initially discovered by Swift, our deep optical observations enabled the identification of a faint optical afterglow, and subsequently a face-on spiral host galaxy underlying the GRB position, with a chance alignment probability of <1 per cent. There is no supernova component present in the afterglow to deep limits. Spectroscopy of the galaxy provides a redshift of z= 0.1218, the lowest redshift yet observed for a short GRB. The GRB lies offset from the host galaxy centre by ~ 18.5 kpc, in the northern spiral arm which exhibits an older stellar population than the southern arm. No emission lines are visible directly under the burst position, implying little ongoing star formation at the burst location. These properties would naturally be explained were the progenitor of GRB 080905A a compact binary merger.

AB - We present the discovery of short GRB 080905A, its optical afterglow and host galaxy. Initially discovered by Swift, our deep optical observations enabled the identification of a faint optical afterglow, and subsequently a face-on spiral host galaxy underlying the GRB position, with a chance alignment probability of <1 per cent. There is no supernova component present in the afterglow to deep limits. Spectroscopy of the galaxy provides a redshift of z= 0.1218, the lowest redshift yet observed for a short GRB. The GRB lies offset from the host galaxy centre by ~ 18.5 kpc, in the northern spiral arm which exhibits an older stellar population than the southern arm. No emission lines are visible directly under the burst position, implying little ongoing star formation at the burst location. These properties would naturally be explained were the progenitor of GRB 080905A a compact binary merger.

U2 - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17115.x

DO - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17115.x

M3 - Journal article

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SP - 383

EP - 391

JO - Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices

JF - Royal Astronomical Society. Monthly Notices

IS - 1

ER -

Discovery of the afterglow and host galaxy of the low-redshift short GRB 080905A

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