[Previous] | [Session 25] | [Next]
P.M. Garnavich (Notre Dame), K.Z. Stanek (CfA), L. Wyrzykowski (Warsaw U. Obs.), L. Infante, E. Bendek (PUCdeChile), S.T. Holland (Notre Dame), D. Bersier, S. Jha, T. Matheson, R.P. Kirshner (CfA), M.M. Phillips (LCO), K. Krisciunas (CTIO), R. Carlberg (Toronto)
We identify and present the first optical observations of the afterglow of the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 011121. Images were obtained with the OGLE 1.3m telescope in BVRI passbands, starting 10.3\;hours after the burst. The temporal analysis of our data indicates a steep decay, independent of wavelength with F\nu\propto t-1.72\pm 0.05. There is no evidence for a break in the light curve earlier than 2.5 days after the burst. The spectral energy distribution determined from the early broad-band photometry is a power-law with F\nu\propto \nu-0.46\pm 0.10 after correcting for a large Galactic extinction. Spectra, obtained with the Magellan 6.5m Baade telescope, reveal narrow emission lines from the host galaxy and these provide a redshift of z=0.36, which is the lowest measured redshift for an optical afterglow.
We also present late R and J-band observations of the afterglow ~14\;days after the burst. The late-time photometry shows a large deviation from the initial decline and our data combined with Hubble Space Telescope photometry provide strong evidence for a supernova peaking less than 10 rest-frame days after the GRB. This is the best evidence to date that classical, long gamma-ray bursts are generated by core-collapse supernovae.
This work is partially supported by NASA LTSA grant NAG5-9364.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/oir/Research/GRB/. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: pgarnavi@nd.edu
[Previous] | [Session 25] | [Next]
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.