IDENTIFYING THE LOCATION IN THE HOST GALAXY OF THE SHORT GRB 111117A WITH THE CHANDRA SUBARCSECOND POSITION

Journal Article · Wed Mar 20 00:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/766/1/41· OSTI ID:22167546

Sakamoto, T.; Troja, E. ^[1]; Aoki, K. ^[2]; Guiriec, S.; Barthelmy, S. D. ^[3]; Im, M.; Jeon, Y. ^[4]; Leloudas, G.; Malesani, D.; De Ugarte Postigo, A.; Andersen, M. I. ^[5]; Melandri, A.; D'Avanzo, P. ^[6]; Urata, Y. ^[7]; Xu, D. ^[8]; Gorosabel, J.; Sanchez-Ramirez, R. ^[9]; Bai, J. ^[10]; Briggs, M. S. ^[11]; Foley, S. ^[12] ; others, and

---

1. Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology (CRESST), NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
2. Subaru Telescope, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 650 North A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)
3. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)
4. Center for the Exploration of the Origin of the Universe (CEOU), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-747 (Korea, Republic of)
5. Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen O (Denmark)
6. INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, via Bianchi 46, I-23807 Merate (Italy)
7. Institute of Astronomy, National Central University, Chung-Li 32054, Taiwan (China)
8. Department of Particle Physics and Astronomy, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel)
9. Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (CSIC), Glorieta de la Astronomia s/n, E-18008 Granada (Spain)
10. Yunnan Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan Province, 650011 (China)
11. Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, University of Alabama in Huntsville, 320 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, AL 35805 (United States)
12. Max-Planck-Institut fuer extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

We present our successful Chandra program designed to identify, with subarcsecond accuracy, the X-ray afterglow of the short GRB 111117A, which was discovered by Swift and Fermi. Thanks to our rapid target of opportunity request, Chandra clearly detected the X-ray afterglow, though no optical afterglow was found in deep optical observations. The host galaxy was clearly detected in the optical and near-infrared band, with the best photometric redshift of z=1.31{sub -0.23}{sup +0.46} (90% confidence), making it one of the highest known short gamma-ray burst (GRB) redshifts. Furthermore, we see an offset of 1.0 {+-} 0.2 arcsec, which corresponds to 8.4 {+-} 1.7 kpc, between the host and the afterglow position. We discuss the importance of using Chandra for obtaining subarcsecond X-ray localizations of short GRB afterglows to study GRB environments.

• OSTI ID: 22167546
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 766; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ACCURACY
AFTERGLOW
COSMIC GAMMA BURSTS
GALAXIES
RED SHIFT
X RADIATION