The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)
A Radio Flare in the Long-lived Afterglow of the Distant Short GRB 210726A: Energy Injection or a Reverse Shock from Shell Collisions?
- Genevieve Schroeder,
- Lauren Rhodes,
- Tanmoy Laskar,
- Anya Nugent,
- Alicia Rouco Escorial,
- Jillian C. Rastinejad,
- Wen-fai Fong,
- Alexander J. van der Horst,
- Péter Veres,
- Kate D. Alexander,
- Alex Andersson,
- Edo Berger,
- Peter K. Blanchard,
- Sarah Chastain,
- Lise Christensen,
- Rob Fender,
- David A. Green,
- Paul Groot,
- Ian Heywood,
- Assaf Horesh,
- Luca Izzo,
- Charles D. Kilpatrick,
- Elmar Körding,
- Amy Lien,
- Daniele B. Malesani,
- Vanessa McBride,
- Kunal Mooley,
- Antonia Rowlinson,
- Huei Sears,
- Ben Stappers,
- Nial Tanvir,
- Susanna D. Vergani,
- Ralph A. M. J. Wijers,
- David Williams-Baldwin,
- Patrick Woudt
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
- Lauren Rhodes
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
- 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
- Anya Nugent
- 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
- Jillian C. Rastinejad
- 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
- Alexander J. van der Horst
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics, The George Washington University , 725 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA
- Péter Veres
- ORCiD
- Department of Space Science, University of Alabama in Huntsville , Huntsville, AL 35899, USA; Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, University of Alabama in Huntsville , Huntsville, AL 35899, USA
- Kate D. Alexander
- ORCiD
- Steward Observatory, University of Arizona , 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065, USA
- Alex Andersson
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK
- Edo Berger
- ORCiD
- Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian , Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Peter K. Blanchard
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Sarah Chastain
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of New Mexico , 210 Yale Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA
- Lise Christensen
- ORCiD
- Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), University of Copenhagen , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK-2200 N, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Rob Fender
- Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK; Department of Astrophysics, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
- David A. Green
- ORCiD
- Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge , 19 J. J . Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0HE, UK
- Paul Groot
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University , P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Astrophysics, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa; South African Astronomical Observatory , P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935, South Africa
- Ian Heywood
- ORCiD
- Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Oxford , Keble Road, Oxford, OX1 3RH, UK; Department of Physics and Electronics, Rhodes University , P.O. Box 94, Makhanda 6140, South Africa; South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) , 2 Fir Street, Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
- Assaf Horesh
- ORCiD
- Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem , Jerusalem, 91904, Israel
- Luca Izzo
- ORCiD
- DARK, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, DK2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
- 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
- Elmar Körding
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University , P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
- Amy Lien
- ORCiD
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tampa , 401 W. Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33606, USA
- Daniele B. Malesani
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University , P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) , Denmark; Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen , Jagtvej 128, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark .
- Vanessa McBride
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa; South African Astronomical Observatory , P.O. Box 9, Observatory 7935, South Africa; IAU Office of Astronomy for Development , P.O. Box 9, 7935 Observatory, South Africa
- Kunal Mooley
- ORCiD
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory , Socorro, NM 87801, USA; Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
- Antonia Rowlinson
- ORCiD
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904, NL-1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy , Postbus 2, NL-7990 AA Dwingeloo, The Netherlands
- Huei Sears
- ORCiD
- Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University , Evanston, IL 60208, USA
- Ben Stappers
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester , Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- Nial Tanvir
- ORCiD
- School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester , University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
- Susanna D. Vergani
- ORCiD
- GEPI, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL , CNRS, 5 Place Jules Janssen, 92190 Meudon, France
- Ralph A. M. J. Wijers
- ORCiD
- Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904, NL-1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- David Williams-Baldwin
- ORCiD
- Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Manchester , Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
- Patrick Woudt
- ORCiD
- Department of Astrophysics, University of Cape Town , Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, Cape Town 7701, South Africa
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad49ab
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 970,
no. 2
p. 139
Abstract
We present the discovery of the radio afterglow of the short gamma-ray burst (GRB) 210726A, localized to a galaxy at a photometric redshift of z ∼ 2.4. While radio observations commenced ≲1 day after the burst, no radio emission was detected until ∼11 days. The radio afterglow subsequently brightened by a factor of ∼3 in the span of a week, followed by a rapid decay (a “radio flare”). We find that a forward shock afterglow model cannot self-consistently describe the multiwavelength X-ray and radio data, and underpredicts the flux of the radio flare by a factor of ≈5. We find that the addition of substantial energy injection, which increases the isotropic kinetic energy of the burst by a factor of ≈4, or a reverse shock from a shell collision are viable solutions to match the broadband behavior. At z ∼ 2.4, GRB 210726A is among the highest-redshift short GRBs discovered to date, as well as the most luminous in radio and X-rays. Combining and comparing all previous radio afterglow observations of short GRBs, we find that the majority of published radio searches conclude by ≲10 days after the burst, potentially missing these late-rising, luminous radio afterglows.
Keywords
