GRB110721A: AN EXTREME PEAK ENERGY AND SIGNATURES OF THE PHOTOSPHERE
- Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa (Italy)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Trieste, I-34127 Trieste (Italy)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, MS-108, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251 (United States)
- Dipartimento di Fisica 'M. Merlin' dell'Universita e del Politecnico di Bari, I-70126 Bari (Italy)
- Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, Ecole polytechnique, CNRS/IN2P3, Palaiseau (France)
- 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)
- Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai (IEEE-CSIC), Campus UAB, E-08193 Barcelona (Spain)
- INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica, I-20133 Milano (Italy)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia (Italy)
- Laboratoire AIM, CEA-IRFU/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot, Service d'Astrophysique, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif sur Yvette (France)
- Center for Earth Observing and Space Research, College of Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030 (United States)
- Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden)
- Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) Science Data Center, I-00044 Frascati (Roma) (Italy)
GRB110721A was observed by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope using its two instruments, the Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). The burst consisted of one major emission episode which lasted for {approx}24.5 s (in the GBM) and had a peak flux of (5.7 {+-} 0.2) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2}. The time-resolved emission spectrum is best modeled with a combination of a Band function and a blackbody spectrum. The peak energy of the Band component was initially 15 {+-} 2 MeV, which is the highest value ever detected in a GRB. This measurement was made possible by combining GBM/BGO data with LAT Low Energy events to achieve continuous 10-100 MeV coverage. The peak energy later decreased as a power law in time with an index of -1.89 {+-} 0.10. The temperature of the blackbody component also decreased, starting from {approx}80 keV, and the decay showed a significant break after {approx}2 s. The spectrum provides strong constraints on the standard synchrotron model, indicating that alternative mechanisms may give rise to the emission at these energies.
- OSTI ID:
- 22078521
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 757, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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