A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc

Jillian C Rastinejad^{1

2}, Benjamin P Gompertz^{3

4}, Andrew J Levan^{5

6}, Wen-Fai Fong^{7

8}, Matt Nicholl^{3

4}, Gavin P Lamb⁹, Daniele B Malesani^{5

6

10

11}, Anya E Nugent^{7

8}, Samantha R Oates^{3

4}, Nial R Tanvir⁹, Antonio de Ugarte Postigo¹², Charles D Kilpatrick^{7

8}, Christopher J Moore^{3

4}, Brian D Metzger^{13

14}, Maria Edvige Ravasio^{5

6

15}, Andrea Rossi¹⁶, Genevieve Schroeder^{7

8}, Jacob Jencson¹⁷, David J Sand¹⁷, Nathan Smith¹⁷, José Feliciano Agüí Fernández¹⁸, Edo Berger¹⁹, Peter K Blanchard^{7

8}, Ryan Chornock²⁰, Bethany E Cobb²¹, Massimiliano De Pasquale²², Johan P U Fynbo^{10

11}, Luca Izzo²³, D Alexander Kann¹⁸, Tanmoy Laskar^{5

6}, Ester Marini²⁴, Kerry Paterson^{7

8

25}, Alicia Rouco Escorial^{7

8}, Huei M Sears^{7

8}, Christina C Thöne²⁶

Affiliations

¹ Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jillianrastinejad2024@u.northwestern.edu.
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jillianrastinejad2024@u.northwestern.edu.
³ Institute for Gravitational Wave Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁴ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁵ Department of Astrophysics, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁶ Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP), Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁷ Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁹ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
¹⁰ Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹¹ Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹² Artemis, Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Nice, France.
¹³ Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Physics, Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁵ INAF, Astronomical Observatory of Brera, Merate, Italy.
¹⁶ INAF, Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, Bologna, Italy.
¹⁷ Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹⁸ Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Granada, Spain.
¹⁹ Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁰ Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
²¹ Department of Physics, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
²² Department of Mathematical and Computer Science, Physical Sciences and Earth Sciences, Polo Papardo, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
²³ Dark Cosmology Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
²⁴ INAF, Observatory of Rome, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy.
²⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA), Heidelberg, Germany.
²⁶ Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ASU-CAS), Ondřejov, Czech Republic.

PMID: 36477128
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05390-w

A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc

Jillian C Rastinejad et al. Nature. 2022 Dec.

. 2022 Dec;612(7939):223-227.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05390-w. Epub 2022 Dec 7.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jillianrastinejad2024@u.northwestern.edu.
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA. jillianrastinejad2024@u.northwestern.edu.
³ Institute for Gravitational Wave Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁴ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
⁵ Department of Astrophysics, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁶ Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP), Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁷ Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA.
⁹ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
¹⁰ Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN), Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹¹ Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹² Artemis, Université Côte d'Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Nice, France.
¹³ Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁴ Department of Physics, Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
¹⁵ INAF, Astronomical Observatory of Brera, Merate, Italy.
¹⁶ INAF, Osservatorio di Astrofisica e Scienza dello Spazio, Bologna, Italy.
¹⁷ Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
¹⁸ Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), Granada, Spain.
¹⁹ Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA.
²⁰ Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
²¹ Department of Physics, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
²² Department of Mathematical and Computer Science, Physical Sciences and Earth Sciences, Polo Papardo, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
²³ Dark Cosmology Centre, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
²⁴ INAF, Observatory of Rome, Monte Porzio Catone, Italy.
²⁵ Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA), Heidelberg, Germany.
²⁶ Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences (ASU-CAS), Ondřejov, Czech Republic.

PMID: 36477128
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05390-w

Abstract

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are divided into two populations^1,2; long GRBs that derive from the core collapse of massive stars (for example, ref. ³) and short GRBs that form in the merger of two compact objects^4,5. Although it is common to divide the two populations at a gamma-ray duration of 2 s, classification based on duration does not always map to the progenitor. Notably, GRBs with short (≲2 s) spikes of prompt gamma-ray emission followed by prolonged, spectrally softer extended emission (EE-SGRBs) have been suggested to arise from compact object mergers^6-8. Compact object mergers are of great astrophysical importance as the only confirmed site of rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis, observed in the form of so-called kilonovae^9-14. Here we report the discovery of a possible kilonova associated with the nearby (350 Mpc), minute-duration GRB 211211A. The kilonova implies that the progenitor is a compact object merger, suggesting that GRBs with long, complex light curves can be spawned from merger events. The kilonova of GRB 211211A has a similar luminosity, duration and colour to that which accompanied the gravitational wave (GW)-detected binary neutron star (BNS) merger GW170817 (ref. ⁴). Further searches for GW signals coincident with long GRBs are a promising route for future multi-messenger astronomy.

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Comment in

Strange flashes linked to stars merging rather than dying.
Piro L. Piro L. Nature. 2022 Dec;612(7939):213-214. doi: 10.1038/d41586-022-04165-7. Nature. 2022. PMID: 36477124 No abstract available.

References

1. Norris, J. P., Cline, T. L., Desai, U. D. & Teegarden, B. J. Frequency of fast, narrow γ-ray bursts. Nature 308, 434–435 (1984). - DOI
1. Kouveliotou, C. et al. Identification of two classes of gamma-ray bursts. Astrophys. J. 413, L101–L104 (1993). - DOI
1. Galama, T. J. et al. An unusual supernova in the error box of the γ-ray burst of 25 April 1998. Nature 395, 670–672 (1998). - DOI
1. Abbott, B. P. et al. Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger. Astrophys. J. 848, L12 (2017). - DOI
1. Goldstein, A. et al. An ordinary short gamma-ray burst with extraordinary implications: Fermi-GBM detection of GRB 170817A. Astrophys. J. 848, L14 (2017). - DOI

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A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc

Affiliations

A kilonova following a long-duration gamma-ray burst at 350 Mpc

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Comment in

References

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MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical