GRB 221009A: Discovery of an Exceptionally Rare Nearby and Energetic Gamma-Ray Burst

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2302.03642.pdf (3.22 MB)

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https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.03642

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https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2302.03642
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/26939

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UMBC Center for Space Sciences and Technology (CSST) / Center for Research and Exploration in Space Sciences & Technology II (CRSST II)
UMBC Faculty Collection
UMBC Physics Department

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Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4299-2517

Date

2023-02-07

Type of Work

journal articles
preprints
Text

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Citation of Original Publication

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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
Public Domain Mark 1.0

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Abstract

We report the discovery of the unusually bright long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB), GRB 221009A, as observed by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory (Swift), Monitor of All-sky Xray Image (MAXI), and Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer Mission (NICER). This energetic GRB was located relatively nearby (z = 0.151), allowing for sustained observations of the afterglow. The large X-ray luminosity and low Galactic latitude (b = 4.3 ◦ ) make GRB 221009A a powerful probe of dust in the Milky Way. Using echo tomography we map the line-of-sight dust distribution and find evidence for significant column densities at large distances (& 10 kpc). We present analysis of the light curves and spectra at X-ray and UV/optical wavelengths, and find that the X-ray afterglow of GRB 221009A is more than an order of magnitude brighter at T0 + 4.5 ks than any previous GRB observed by Swift. In its rest frame GRB 221009A is at the high end of the afterglow luminosity distribution, but not uniquely so. In a simulation of randomly generated bursts, only 1 in 104 long GRBs were as energetic as GRB 221009A; such a large Eγ,iso implies a narrow jet structure, but the afterglow light curve is inconsistent with simple top-hat jet models. Using the sample of Swift GRBs with redshifts, we estimate that GRBs as energetic and nearby as GRB 221009A occur at a rate of . 1 per 1000 yr – making this a truly remarkable opportunity unlikely to be repeated in our lifetime.