THE OPTICALLY UNBIASED GRB HOST (TOUGH) SURVEY. VI. RADIO OBSERVATIONS AT z {approx}< 1 AND CONSISTENCY WITH TYPICAL STAR-FORMING GALAXIES
- SUPA (Scottish Universities Physics Alliance), Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)
- Physics Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI 53211 (United States)
- Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen O (Denmark)
- CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710 (Australia)
- Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria, CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, E-39005 Santander (Spain)
- Department of Radio Astronomy, Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (INTA-NASA/INSA), Ctra. M-531, km. 7, E-28.294 Robledo de Chavela (Madrid) (Spain)
- UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ (United Kingdom)
- Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON), Postbus 2, 7990 AA Dwingeloo (Netherlands)
- Centre for Astrophysics and Cosmology, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107 Reykjavik (Iceland)
- Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom)
- INAF-Istituto di Radioastronomia, via Gobetti 101, I-40129 Bologna (Italy)
- ICRAR, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA (Australia)
- Oskar Klein Centre, Department of Astronomy, AlbaNova, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm (Sweden)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom)
The objective of this paper is to determine the level of obscured star formation activity and dust attenuation in a sample of gamma-ray burst (GRB) hosts, and to test the hypothesis that GRB hosts have properties consistent with those of the general star-forming galaxy populations. We present a radio continuum survey of all z < 1 GRB hosts in The Optically Unbiased GRB Host (TOUGH) sample supplemented with radio data for all (mostly pre-Swift) GRB-SN hosts discovered before 2006 October. We present new radio data for 22 objects and have obtained a detection for three of them (GRB 980425, 021211, 031203; none in the TOUGH sample), increasing the number of radio-detected GRB hosts from two to five. The star formation rate (SFR) for the GRB 021211 host of {approx}825 M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}, the highest ever reported for a GRB host, places it in the category of ultraluminous infrared galaxies. We found that at least {approx}63% of GRB hosts have SFR < 100 M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1} and at most {approx}8% can have SFR > 500 M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}. For the undetected hosts the mean radio flux (<35 {mu}Jy 3{sigma}) corresponds to an average SFR < 15 M{sub Sun} yr{sup -1}. Moreover, {approx}> 88% of the z {approx}< 1 GRB hosts have ultraviolet dust attenuation A{sub UV} < 6.7 mag (visual attenuation A{sub V} < 3 mag). Hence, we did not find evidence for large dust obscuration in a majority of GRB hosts. Finally, we found that the distributions of SFRs and A{sub UV} of GRB hosts are consistent with those of Lyman break galaxies, H{alpha} emitters at similar redshifts, and of galaxies from cosmological simulations. The similarity of the GRB population with other star-forming galaxies is consistent with the hypothesis that GRBs, a least at z {approx}< 1, trace a large fraction of all star formation, and are therefore less biased indicators than once thought.
- OSTI ID:
- 22039108
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 755, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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