GRB 161219B/SN 2016jca: a powerful stellar collapse

Journal Article · 10 June 2019 · Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stz1588 · OSTI ID:1531036

Ashall, C. ^[1]; Mazzali, P. A. ^[2]; Pian, E. ^[3]; Woosley, S. E. ^[4]; Palazzi, E. ^[3]; Prentice, S. J.  ^[5]; Kobayashi, S. ^[6]; Holmbo, S. ^[7]; Levan, A. ^[8]; Perley, D.  ^[6]; Stritzinger, M. D. ^[7]; Bufano, F. ^[9]; Filippenko, A. V. ^[10]; Melandri, A. ^[11]; Oates, S. ^[8]; Rossi, A. ^[3]; Selsing, J. ^[12]; Zheng, W. ^[13]; Castro-Tirado, A. J. ^[14]; Chincarini, G. ^[11] ; D’Avanzo, P. ^[11]; De Pasquale, M. ^[15]; Emery, S. ^[16]; Fruchter, A. S. ^[17]; Hurley, K. ^[18]; Moller, P.  ^[19]; Nomoto, K. ^[20]; Tanaka, M. ^[21]; Valeev, A. F. ^[22]

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1. Department of Physics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA, Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, IC2, Liverpool Science Park, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK
2. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, IC2, Liverpool Science Park, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK, Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany
3. INAF-OAS Bologna, Via P. Gobetti 93/3, I-40129 Bologna, Italy
4. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
5. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, IC2, Liverpool Science Park, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK, Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
6. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, IC2, Liverpool Science Park, 146 Brownlow Hill, Liverpool L3 5RF, UK
7. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
8. Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
9. INAF, Astronomical Observatory of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 78, I-95123 Catania, Italy
10. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA, Miller Senior Fellow, Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
11. INAF, Brera Astronomical Observatory, Via Santa Sofia 78, I-95123 Catania, Italy
12. Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 København ø, Denmark
13. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA
14. Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (IAA-CSIC), Glorieta de la Astronomia, E-18008 Granada, Spain
15. Department of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Istanbul University Beyazid, Istanbul 34119, Turkey
16. Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
17. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Dr., Baltimore, MD 20218, USA
18. University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, 7 Gauss Way, Berkeley, CA 94720-7450, USA
19. European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany
20. Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583, Japan
21. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
22. Special Astrophysical Observatory, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Karachai-Cherkessian Republic 369167, Russia

ABSTRACT We report observations and analysis of the nearby gamma-ray burst GRB 161219B (redshift z = 0.1475) and the associated Type Ic supernova (SN) 2016jca. GRB 161219B had an isotropic gamma-ray energy of ∼1.6 × 1050 erg. Its afterglow is likely refreshed at an epoch preceding the first photometric points (0.6 d), which slows down the decay rates. Combined analysis of the SN light curve and multiwavelength observations of the afterglow suggest that the GRB jet was broad during the afterglow phase (full opening angle ∼42° ± 3°). Our spectral series shows broad absorption lines typical of GRB supernovae (SNe), which testify to the presence of material with velocities up to ∼0.25c. The spectrum at 3.73 d allows for the very early identification of an SN associated with a GRB. Reproducing it requires a large photospheric velocity ($$35\, 000 \pm 7000$$ km s−1). The kinetic energy of the SN is estimated through models to be Ekin≈4 × 1052 erg in spherical symmetry. The ejected mass in the explosion was Mej≈6.5 ± 1.5 M⊙, much less than that of other GRB-SNe, demonstrating diversity among these events. The total amount of 56Ni in the explosion was 0.27 ± 0.05 M⊙. The observed spectra require the presence of freshly synthesized 56Ni at the highest velocities, at least three times more than a standard GRB-SN. We also find evidence for a decreasing 56Ni abundance as a function of decreasing velocity. This suggests that SN 2016jca was a highly aspherical explosion viewed close to on-axis, powered by a compact remnant. Applying a typical correction for asymmetry, the energy of SN 2016jca was ∼(1–3) × 1052 erg, confirming that most of the energy produced by GRB-SNe goes into the kinetic energy of the SN ejecta.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 1531036
• Journal Information: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Journal Name: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 487 Journal Issue: 4; ISSN 0035-8711
• Publisher: Oxford University PressCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United Kingdom
• Language: English