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Title: FERMI OBSERVATIONS OF GRB 090902B: A DISTINCT SPECTRAL COMPONENT IN THE PROMPT AND DELAYED EMISSION

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal (Online)
 [1]; ; ; ; ; ; ;  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5]; ;  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [13]
  1. Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States)
  2. W. W. Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory, Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Department of Physics and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)
  3. Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro City, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan)
  4. Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, Department of Physics and Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States)
  5. Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)
  6. Istituto Nazionale di fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy)
  7. Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette (France)
  8. Istituto Nazionale di fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy)
  9. Rice University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, MS-108, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 (United States)
  10. Istituto Nazionale di fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova (Italy)
  11. University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL 35899 (United States)
  12. Max-Planck Institut fuer extraterrestrische Physik, 85748 Garching (Germany)
  13. Istituto Nazionale di fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy)

We report on the observation of the bright, long gamma-ray burst (GRB), GRB 090902B, by the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT) instruments on-board the Fermi observatory. This was one of the brightest GRBs to have been observed by the LAT, which detected several hundred photons during the prompt phase. With a redshift of z = 1.822, this burst is among the most luminous detected by Fermi. Time-resolved spectral analysis reveals a significant power-law component in the LAT data that is distinct from the usual Band model emission that is seen in the sub-MeV energy range. This power-law component appears to extrapolate from the GeV range to the lowest energies and is more intense than the Band component, both below approx50 keV and above 100 MeV. The Band component undergoes substantial spectral evolution over the entire course of the burst, while the photon index of the power-law component remains constant for most of the prompt phase, then hardens significantly toward the end. After the prompt phase, power-law emission persists in the LAT data as late as 1 ks post-trigger, with its flux declining as t {sup -1.5}. The LAT detected a photon with the highest energy so far measured from a GRB, 33.4{sup +2.7}{sub -3.5} GeV. This event arrived 82 s after the GBM trigger and approx50 s after the prompt phase emission had ended in the GBM band. We discuss the implications of these results for models of GRB emission and for constraints on models of the extragalactic background light.

OSTI ID:
21378171
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 706, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/706/1/L138; ISSN 1538-4357
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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