The Very Faint K-Band Afterglow of GRB 020819 and the Dust Extinction Hypothesis of the Dark Bursts

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

29

Gamma Rays: Bursts, Infrared: General

Scientific paper

We report rapid follow-up K'-band observations of the error box of the bright High Energy Transient Explorer burst GRB 020819. We find that any afterglow was fainter than K'=19 only 9 hr after the burst. Because no optical afterglow was found, GRB 020819 represents a typical ``dark burst.'' At first, we discuss if extinction by cosmic dust in the GRB host galaxy could explain the faintness of the afterglow of GRB 020819. We then turn to the entire ensemble of K-band dark afterglows. We find that extinction by cosmic dust in the GRB host galaxies is still a possible explanation for the faintness of many afterglows. In all investigated cases a combination of only a modest extinction with a modest redshift can explain the observations. However, the required extinction is very high if these bursts occurred at redshifts smaller than unity, perhaps arguing for alternative models to explain the nature of the dark bursts.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

The Very Faint K-Band Afterglow of GRB 020819 and the Dust Extinction Hypothesis of the Dark Bursts does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Very Faint K-Band Afterglow of GRB 020819 and the Dust Extinction Hypothesis of the Dark Bursts, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Very Faint K-Band Afterglow of GRB 020819 and the Dust Extinction Hypothesis of the Dark Bursts will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1663709

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.