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How Special Are Dark Gamma-Ray Burst: A Diagnostic ToolWe present here a comprehensive study of the optical/near-infrared (IR) upper limits for gamma-ray bursts that have an X-ray afterglow. We have extrapolated the X-ray afterglows to optical wavelengths based on the physics of the fireball blast wave model and compared these results with optical upper limits for a large sample of bursts. We find a small set of only three bursts out of a sample of 20 for which the upper limits are not compatible with their X-ray afterglow properties within the context of any blast wave model. This sparse sample does not allow us to conclusively determine the cause of this optical/near-IR deficit. Extinction in the host galaxy is a likely cause, but high redshifts and different afterglow mechanisms might also explain the deficit in some cases. We note that the three bursts appear to have higher than average gamma-my peak fluxes. In a magnitude versus time diagram the bursts are separated from the majority of bursts with a detected optical/near-IR afterglow. However, two gamma- ray bursts with an optical afterglow (one of which is highly reddened) also fall in this region with dark bursts, making it likely that dark bursts are at the faint end of the set of optically detected bursts, and therefore the dark bursts likely form a continuum with the bursts with a detected optical afterglow. Our work provides a useful diagnostic tool for follow-up observations for potentially dark bursts; applied to the events detected with the Swift satellite, it will significantly increase our sample of truly dark bursts and shed light upon their nature. Subject headings: dust, extinction - gamma rays: bursts Online material: machine-readable tables
Document ID
20050180647
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Rod, Evert
(Leicester Univ. United Kingdom)
Wiers, Ralph A. M. J.
(Amsterdam Univ. Netherlands)
Kouveliotou, Chryssa
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Kaper, Lex
(Amsterdam Univ. Netherlands)
Kaneko, Yuki
(Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Kaper, Lex
(Amsterdam Univ. Netherlands)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2005
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
Volume: 624
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: HSTG008189.05A
CONTRACT_GRANT: PPa/G/D/2003/00018
CONTRACT_GRANT: NWO-614-51-003
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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