Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published May 10, 2000 | Published + Accepted Version
Journal Article Open

Dust Echoes from Gamma-Ray Bursts

Abstract

The deviation from the power-law decline of the optical flux observed in GRB 970228 and GRB 980326 has been used recently to argue in favor of the connection between gamma-ray bursts and supernovae. We consider an alternative explanation for this phenomenon, based on the scattering of a prompt optical burst by 0.1 M☉ dust located beyond its sublimation radius 0.1-1 pc from the burst. In both cases, the optical energy observed at the time of the first detection of the afterglow suffices to produce an echo after ~20-30 days, as observed. Prompt optical monitoring of future bursts and multiband photometry of the afterglows will enable us to test simple models of dust reprocessing quantitatively and to predict source redshift.

Additional Information

© 2000 The American Astronomical Society. Received 2000 February 15; accepted 2000 March 24; published 2000 May 2. We thank J. Bloom for helpful comments. This work was supported by NASA grant 5-2837, NSF grant AST 99-00866, and a Chandra Postdoctoral Fellowship grant (PF8-10002) awarded by the Chandra X-Ray Center, which is operated by the SAO for NASA under contract NAS8-39073.

Attached Files

Published - Esin_2000_ApJ_534_L151.pdf

Accepted Version - 0003415.pdf

Files

Esin_2000_ApJ_534_L151.pdf
Files (224.5 kB)
Name Size Download all
md5:0642f419307f93163ff10b67ab6457f4
76.5 kB Preview Download
md5:8b43f091cb83038e9f2a68b24f3c1f5b
148.0 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 20, 2023