The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
The Radio to GeV Afterglow of GRB 221009A
- Tanmoy Laskar,
- Kate D. Alexander,
- Raffaella Margutti,
- Tarraneh Eftekhari,
- Ryan Chornock,
- Edo Berger,
- Yvette Cendes,
- Anne Duerr,
- Daniel A. Perley,
- Maria Edvige Ravasio,
- Ryo Yamazaki,
- Eliot H. Ayache,
- Thomas Barclay,
- Rodolfo Barniol Duran,
- Shivani Bhandari,
- Daniel Brethauer,
- Collin T. Christy,
- Deanne L. Coppejans,
- Paul Duffell,
- Wen-fai Fong,
- Andreja Gomboc,
- Cristiano Guidorzi,
- Jamie A. Kennea,
- Shiho Kobayashi,
- Andrew Levan,
- Andrei P. Lobanov,
- Brian D. Metzger,
- Eduardo Ros,
- Genevieve Schroeder,
- P. K. G. Williams
Affiliations
- Tanmoy Laskar
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA; Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University , P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Kate D. Alexander
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy/ Steward Observatory , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Rm. N204, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA
- Raffaella Margutti
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Physics, University of California , 501 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Tarraneh Eftekhari
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3112, USA; Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics , 1800 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201, USA
- Ryan Chornock
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , 501 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Edo Berger
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Yvette Cendes
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Anne Duerr
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Utah , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
- Daniel A. Perley
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , IC2, Liverpool Science Park, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
- Maria Edvige Ravasio
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University , P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; INAF–Astronomical Observatory of Brera , via E. Bianchi 46, I-23807 Merate, Italy
- Ryo Yamazaki
- ORCiD
- Department of Physical Sciences, Aoyama Gakuin University , 5-10-1 Fuchinobe, Sagamihara 252-5258, Japan; Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University , 2-6 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
- Eliot H. Ayache
- ORCiD
- The Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University , AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Thomas Barclay
- ORCiD
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; University of Maryland , Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Cir, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
- Rodolfo Barniol Duran
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University , 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-6041 USA
- Shivani Bhandari
- ORCiD
- ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy , Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, NL-7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands; Joint institute for VLBI ERIC , Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, NL-7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands; Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904, NL-1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands; CSIRO , Space and Astronomy, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 Australia
- Daniel Brethauer
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy, University of California , 501 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
- Collin T. Christy
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy/ Steward Observatory , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Rm. N204, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA
- Deanne L. Coppejans
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick , Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
- Paul Duffell
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University , 525 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
- Wen-fai Fong
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3112, USA; Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics , 1800 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201, USA
- Andreja Gomboc
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics and Cosmology, University of Nova Gorica , Vipavska 11c, 5270 Ajdovščina, Slovenia
- Cristiano Guidorzi
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Earth Science, University of Ferrara , Via Saragat 1, I-44122 Ferrara, Italy; INFN—Sezione di Ferrara , Via Saragat 1, I-44122 Ferrara, Italy; INAF—Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio di Bologna , Via Piero Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
- Jamie A. Kennea
- ORCiD
- Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University , 525 Davey Lab, University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Shiho Kobayashi
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University , IC2, Liverpool Science Park, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, L3 5RF, UK
- Andrew Levan
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University , P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Andrei P. Lobanov
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie , Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
- Brian D. Metzger
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University , Pupin Hall, New York, NY 10027, USA; Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute , 162 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010, USA
- Eduardo Ros
- ORCiD
- Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie , Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
- Genevieve Schroeder
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208-3112, USA; Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics , 1800 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201, USA
- P. K. G. Williams
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acbfad
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 946,
no. 1
p. L23
Abstract
GRB 221009A ( z = 0.151) is one of the closest known long γ -ray bursts (GRBs). Its extreme brightness across all electromagnetic wavelengths provides an unprecedented opportunity to study a member of this still-mysterious class of transients in exquisite detail. We present multiwavelength observations of this extraordinary event, spanning 15 orders of magnitude in photon energy from radio to γ -rays. We find that the data can be partially explained by a forward shock (FS) from a highly collimated relativistic jet interacting with a low-density, wind-like medium. Under this model, the jet’s beaming-corrected kinetic energy ( E _K ∼ 4 × 10 ^50 erg) is typical for the GRB population. The radio and millimeter data provide strong limiting constraints on the FS model, but require the presence of an additional emission component. From equipartition arguments, we find that the radio emission is likely produced by a small amount of mass (≲6 × 10 ^−7 M _⊙ ) moving relativistically (Γ ≳ 9) with a large kinetic energy (≳10 ^49 erg). However, the temporal evolution of this component does not follow prescriptions for synchrotron radiation from a single power-law distribution of electrons (e.g., in a reverse shock or two-component jet), or a thermal-electron population, perhaps suggesting that one of the standard assumptions of afterglow theory is violated. GRB 221009A will likely remain detectable with radio telescopes for years to come, providing a valuable opportunity to track the full lifecycle of a powerful relativistic jet.
Keywords
