Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2002-01-19
Astrophys.J. 570 (2002) L61-L64
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in ApJL. Section on GRB orphan afterglows added, section on GRB 980425/SN 1998bw association exp
Scientific paper
10.1086/340991
We calculate Gamma-Ray Burst afterglow light-curves from a relativistic jet of initial opening angle theta_0, as seen by observers at a wide range of viewing angles, theta_obs, from the jet axis. We describe three increasingly more realistic models and compare the resulting light-curves. An observer at theta_obs < theta_0 should see a light curve very similar to that for an on-axis observer. An observer at theta_obs > theta_0 should see a rising light curve at early times, the flux peaking when the jet Lorentz factor sim 1/theta_obs. After this time the flux is not very different from that seen by an on-axis observer. A strong linear polarization (<40%) may occur near the peak in the light curve, and slowly decay with time. We show that if GRB jets have a universal energy, then orphan afterglows associated with off-axis jets should be seen up to a constant theta_obs, therefore the detection rate of orphan afterglows would be proportional to the true GRB rate. We also discuss the proposed connection between supernova 1998bw and GRB 980425.
Granot Jonathan
Kumar Pawan
Panaitescu Alin
Woosley Stan E.
No associations
LandOfFree
Off-Axis Afterglow Emission from Jetted Gamma-Ray 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 Off-Axis Afterglow Emission from Jetted Gamma-Ray Bursts, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Off-Axis Afterglow Emission from Jetted Gamma-Ray Bursts will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-489685