DISCOVERY OF AN EXTRA HARD SPECTRAL COMPONENT IN THE HIGH-ENERGY AFTERGLOW EMISSION OF GRB 130427A
- Institute of Astronomy and Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan (China)
- School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)
The extended high-energy gamma-ray (>100 MeV) emission which occurs after prompt gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is usually characterized by a single power-law spectrum, which has been explained as the afterglow synchrotron radiation. The afterglow inverse Compton emission has long been predicted to be able to produce a high-energy component as well, but previous observations have not clearly revealed such a signature, probably due to the small number of >10 GeV photons even for the brightest GRBs known so far. In this Letter, we report on the Fermi Large Area Telescope observations of the >100 MeV emission from the very bright and nearby GRB 130427A. We characterize the time-resolved spectra of the GeV emission from the GRB onset to the afterglow phase. By performing time-resolved spectral fits of GRB 130427A, we found strong evidence of an extra hard spectral component that exists in the extended high-energy emission of this GRB. We argue that this hard component may arise from the afterglow inverse Compton emission.
- OSTI ID:
- 22118711
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 771, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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