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iPTF14yb: The First Discovery of a Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglow Independent of a High-Energy TriggerWe report here the discovery by the Intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) of iPTF14yb, a luminous (Mr >> -27.8 mag), cosmological (redshift 1.9733), rapidly fading optical transient. We demonstrate, based on probabilistic arguments and a comparison with the broader population, that iPTF14yb is the optical afterglow of the long-duration gamma-ray burst GRB 140226A. This marks the first unambiguous discovery of a GRB afterglow prior to (and thus entirely independent of) an associated high-energy trigger. We estimate the rate of iPTF14yb-like sources (i.e., cosmologically distant relativistic explosions) based on iPTF observations, inferring an all-sky value of Rrel = 610/yr (68% confidence interval of 110-2000/yr). Our derived rate is consistent (within the large uncertainty) with the all-sky rate of on-axis GRBs derived by the Swift satellite. Finally, we briefly discuss the implications of the nondetection to date of bona fide "orphan" afterglows (i.e., those lacking detectable high-energy emission) on GRB beaming and the degree of baryon loading in these relativistic jets.
Document ID
20160007569
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Cenko, S. Bradley
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Urban, Alex L.
(Wisconsin Univ. Milwaukee, WI, United States)
Perley, Daniel A.
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Horesh, Assaf
(Weizmann Inst. of Science Rehovot, Israel)
Corsi, Alessandra
(Texas Tech Univ. Lubbock, TX, United States)
Fox, Derek B.
(Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Cao, Yi
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Kasliwal, Mansi M.
(Carnegie Institution for Science Pasadena, CA, United States)
Lien, Amy
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Baltimore, MD, United States)
Arcavi, Iair
(Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, Inc. Goleta, CA, United States)
Bloom, Joshua S.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Butler, Nat R.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Cucchiara, Antonino
(AURA, Inc. Washington, DC, United States)
De Diego, Jose A.
(Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico Mexico City, Mexico)
Filippenko, Alexei V.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Gal-Yam, Avishay
(Weizmann Inst. of Science Rehovot, Israel)
Gehrels, Neil
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Georgiev, Leonid
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Gonzalez, J. Jesus
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Graham, John F.
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Greiner, Jochen
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Kann, D. Alexander
(Thueringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Germany)
Klein, Christopher R.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Knust, Fabian
(Max-Planck-Inst. fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Kutyrev, Alexander
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
June 15, 2016
Publication Date
April 20, 2015
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Volume: 803
Issue: 2
e-ISSN: 2041-8213
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN34884
GSFC-E-DAA-TN32855
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX12AE66G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX09AH71G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX15AP23G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG06EO90A
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX10AI27G
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX09AT02G
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
gamma-ray burst: general aEuro" stars: flare aEuro" supernovae: general

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