Astrophysics
[Submitted on 29 Aug 2000 (v1), last revised 18 Apr 2001 (this version, v2)]
Title:Snapshot Identification of Gamma Ray Burst Optical Afterglows
View PDFAbstract: Gamma ray burst afterglows can be identified in single epoch observations using three or more optical filters. This method relies on color measurements to distinguish the power law spectrum of an afterglow from the curved spectra of stars. Observations in a fourth filter will further distinguish between afterglows and most galaxies up to redshifts z ~ 1. Many afterglows can also be identified with fewer filters using ultraviolet excess, infrared excess, or Lyman break techniques. By allowing faster identification of gamma ray burst afterglows, these color methods will increase the fraction of bursts for which optical spectroscopy and other narrow-field observations can be obtained. Because quasar colors can match those of afterglows, the maximum error box size where an unambiguous identification can be expected is set by the flux limit of the afterglow search and the quasar number-flux relation. For currently typical error boxes (10 -- 100 square arcminutes), little contamination is expected at magnitudes R < 21.5 +- 0.5. Archival data demonstrates that the afterglow of GRB 000301C could have been identified using this method. In addition to finding gamma ray burst counterparts, this method will have applications in ``orphan afterglow'' searches used to constrain gamma ray burst collimation.
Submission history
From: James E. Rhoads [view email][v1] Tue, 29 Aug 2000 18:30:56 UTC (50 KB)
[v2] Wed, 18 Apr 2001 19:30:06 UTC (50 KB)
References & Citations
Bibliographic and Citation Tools
Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?)
Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?)
Litmaps (What is Litmaps?)
scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?)
Code, Data and Media Associated with this Article
alphaXiv (What is alphaXiv?)
CatalyzeX Code Finder for Papers (What is CatalyzeX?)
DagsHub (What is DagsHub?)
Gotit.pub (What is GotitPub?)
Hugging Face (What is Huggingface?)
Papers with Code (What is Papers with Code?)
ScienceCast (What is ScienceCast?)
Demos
Recommenders and Search Tools
Influence Flower (What are Influence Flowers?)
CORE Recommender (What is CORE?)
IArxiv Recommender
(What is IArxiv?)
arXivLabs: experimental projects with community collaborators
arXivLabs is a framework that allows collaborators to develop and share new arXiv features directly on our website.
Both individuals and organizations that work with arXivLabs have embraced and accepted our values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only works with partners that adhere to them.
Have an idea for a project that will add value for arXiv's community? Learn more about arXivLabs.