Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2005-10-05
Nature437:845-850,2005
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Nature in press (Oct 6 issue). 23 pages, 4 figures
Scientific paper
10.1038/nature04189
The final chapter in the long-standing mystery of the gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) centres on the origin of the short-hard class, suspected on theoretical grounds to result from the coalescence of neutron star or black hole binary systems. Numerous searches for the afterglows of short-hard bursts have been made, galvanized by the revolution in our understanding of long-duration GRBs that followed the discovery in 1997 of their broadband (X-ray, optical, and radio) afterglow emission. Here we present the discovery of the X-ray afterglow of a short-hard burst whose accurate position allows us to unambiguously associate it with a star-forming galaxy at redshift z=0.160, and whose optical lightcurve definitively excludes a supernova association. Together with results from three other recent short-hard bursts, this suggests that short-hard bursts release much less energy than the long-duration GRBs. Models requiring young stellar populations, such as magnetars and collapsars, are ruled out, while coalescing degenerate binaries remain the most promising progenitor candidates.
Aoki Kaori
Berger Edmond
Cameron Patrick B.
Cenko Bradley S.
Chevalier Roger A.
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