The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2025)
The Long-lived Broadband Afterglow of Short Gamma-Ray Burst 231117A and the Growing Radio-detected Short Gamma-Ray Burst Population
- Genevieve Schroeder,
- Wen-fai Fong,
- Charles D. Kilpatrick,
- Alicia Rouco Escorial,
- Tanmoy Laskar,
- Anya E. Nugent,
- Jillian Rastinejad,
- Kate D. Alexander,
- Edo Berger,
- Thomas G. Brink,
- Ryan Chornock,
- Clecio R. de Bom,
- Yuxin Dong,
- Tarraneh Eftekhari,
- Alexei V. Filippenko,
- Celeste Fuentes-Carvajal,
- Wynn V. Jacobson-Galán,
- Matthew Malkan,
- Raffaella Margutti,
- Jeniveve Pearson,
- Lauren Rhodes,
- Ricardo Salinas,
- David J. Sand,
- Luidhy Santana-Silva,
- Andre Santos,
- Huei Sears,
- Manisha Shrestha,
- Nathan Smith,
- Wayne Webb,
- Simon de Wet,
- Yi Yang
Affiliations
- Genevieve Schroeder
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Wen-fai Fong
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Charles D. Kilpatrick
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Alicia Rouco Escorial
- ORCiD
- European Space Agency (ESA) , European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC), Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, 28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
- Tanmoy Laskar
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- Anya E. Nugent
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Jillian Rastinejad
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Kate D. Alexander
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA
- Edo Berger
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics—Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Thomas G. Brink
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Ryan Chornock
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Clecio R. de Bom
- Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas , Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Yuxin Dong
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Tarraneh Eftekhari
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Alexei V. Filippenko
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Celeste Fuentes-Carvajal
- ORCiD
- Departamento de Astronomía y Astrofísica, Pontificia Universidad Catolíca de Chile , Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, 782-0436 Macul, Santiago, Chile
- Wynn V. Jacobson-Galán
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Matthew Malkan
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCLA , Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547, USA
- Raffaella Margutti
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA; Department of Physics, University of California , 366 Physics North MC 7300, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Jeniveve Pearson
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA
- Lauren Rhodes
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
- Ricardo Salinas
- ORCiD
- Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Polish Academy of Sciences , Bartycka 18, 00-716 Warszawa, Poland
- David J. Sand
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA
- Luidhy Santana-Silva
- ORCiD
- Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas , Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Andre Santos
- Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas , Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
- Huei Sears
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers, T he State University of New Jersey, 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8019, USA
- Manisha Shrestha
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA
- Nathan Smith
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA
- Wayne Webb
- UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy , Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547, USA
- Simon de Wet
- ORCiD
- University of Cape Town Astronomy Department , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
- Yi Yang
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA; Physics Department, Tsinghua University , Beijing, 100084, People's Republic of China
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ada9e5
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 982,
no. 1
p. 42
Abstract
We present multiwavelength observations of the Swift short γ -ray burst GRB 231117A, localized to an underlying galaxy at redshift z = 0.257 at a small projected offset (∼2 kpc). We uncover long-lived X-ray Chandra X-ray Observatory and radio/millimeter (VLA, MeerKAT, and ALMA) afterglow emission, detected to ∼37 days and ∼20 days (rest frame), respectively. We measure a wide jet (∼10 $\mathop{.}\limits^{\unicode{x000b0}}$ 4) and relatively high circumburst density (∼0.07 cm ^−3 ) compared to the short GRB population. Our data cannot be easily fit with a standard forward shock model, but they are generally well fit with the incorporation of a refreshed forward shock and a reverse shock at 10 ^−2 cm ^−3 ), consistent with their smaller (10°) jets where observational evidence of collimation may only be detectable at radio wavelengths. Owing to improved observing strategies and the emergence of sensitive radio facilities, the number of radio-detected short GRBs has quadrupled in the past decade.
Keywords
- Gamma-ray bursts
- Radio astronomy
- Time domain astronomy
- Millimeter astronomy
- High energy astrophysics
- Relativistic jets
