TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence that gamma-ray burst 130702A exploded in a dwarf satellite of a massive galaxy
AU - Kelly, Patrick L.
AU - Filippenko, Alexei V.
AU - Fox, Ori D.
AU - Zheng, Weikang
AU - Clubb, Kelsey I.
PY - 2013/9/20
Y1 - 2013/9/20
N2 - GRB 130702A is a nearby long-duration gamma-ray burst (LGRB) discovered by the Fermi satellite whose associated afterglow was detected by the Palomar Transient Factory. Subsequent photometric and spectroscopic monitoring has identified a coincident broad-lined Type Ic supernova (SN), and nebular emission detected near the explosion site is consistent with a redshift of z = 0.145. The SN-GRB exploded at an offset of ∼7.″6 from the center of an inclined r = 18.1 mag red disk-dominated galaxy, and ∼0.″6 from the center of a much fainter r = 23 mag object. We obtained Keck-II DEIMOS spectra of the two objects and find a 2σ upper limit on their line-of-sight velocity offset of ≲60 km s-1. If we calculate the inclination angle of the massive red galaxy from its axis ratio and assume that its light is dominated by a very thin disk, the explosion would have a ∼60 kpc central offset, or ∼9 times the galaxy's half-light radius. A significant bulge or a thicker disk would imply a higher inclination angle and greater central offset. The substantial offset suggests that the faint source is a separate dwarf galaxy. The star-formation rate of the dwarf galaxy is ∼0.05 M ⊙yr-1, and we place an upper limit on its oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) < 8.16 dex. The identification of an LGRB in a dwarf satellite of a massive, metal-rich primary galaxy suggests that recent detections of LGRBs spatially coincident with metal-rich galaxies may be, in some cases, superpositions.
AB - GRB 130702A is a nearby long-duration gamma-ray burst (LGRB) discovered by the Fermi satellite whose associated afterglow was detected by the Palomar Transient Factory. Subsequent photometric and spectroscopic monitoring has identified a coincident broad-lined Type Ic supernova (SN), and nebular emission detected near the explosion site is consistent with a redshift of z = 0.145. The SN-GRB exploded at an offset of ∼7.″6 from the center of an inclined r = 18.1 mag red disk-dominated galaxy, and ∼0.″6 from the center of a much fainter r = 23 mag object. We obtained Keck-II DEIMOS spectra of the two objects and find a 2σ upper limit on their line-of-sight velocity offset of ≲60 km s-1. If we calculate the inclination angle of the massive red galaxy from its axis ratio and assume that its light is dominated by a very thin disk, the explosion would have a ∼60 kpc central offset, or ∼9 times the galaxy's half-light radius. A significant bulge or a thicker disk would imply a higher inclination angle and greater central offset. The substantial offset suggests that the faint source is a separate dwarf galaxy. The star-formation rate of the dwarf galaxy is ∼0.05 M ⊙yr-1, and we place an upper limit on its oxygen abundance of 12 + log(O/H) < 8.16 dex. The identification of an LGRB in a dwarf satellite of a massive, metal-rich primary galaxy suggests that recent detections of LGRBs spatially coincident with metal-rich galaxies may be, in some cases, superpositions.
KW - galaxies: abundances
KW - gamma-ray burst: individual (130702A)
KW - supernovae: general
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U2 - 10.1088/2041-8205/775/1/L5
DO - 10.1088/2041-8205/775/1/L5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84884199408
SN - 2041-8205
VL - 775
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
IS - 1
M1 - L5
ER -