Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1998-07-30
Astrophys.J. 507 (1998) L25-L28
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Submitted to the Astrophysical Journal Letters (30 July 1998). Five pages including one table and two figures, written in LaTe
Scientific paper
10.1086/311682
We present late-time imaging and spectroscopic observations of the optical transient (OT) of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 970508. Imaging observations roughly 200 and 300 days after the burst provide unambiguous evidence for the flattening of the light-curve. The spectroscopic observations reveal two persistent features which we identify with [O II] 3727 Angstrom and [Ne III] 3869 Angstrom at a redshift of z= 0.835 -- the same redshift as the absorption system seen when the transient was bright. The OT was coincident with the underlying galaxy to better than 370 milliarcsec or a projected radial separation of less than 2.7 kpc. The luminosity of the [O II] line implies a minimum star-formation rate of > 1 M_solar per year. In our assumed cosmology, the implied restframe absolute magnitude is M_B = -18.55, or L_B = 0.12 L_*. This object, the likely host of GRB 970508, can thus be characterized as an actively star-forming dwarf galaxy. The close spatial connection between this dwarf galaxy and the GRB requires that at least some fraction of progenitors be not ejected in even the weakest galactic potentials.
Bloom Josh S.
Djorgovski Stanislav G.
Frail Dale A.
Kulkarni Sanjeev R.
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