Evidence for a Bright-edged Jet in the Optical/Near-infrared Afterglow of GRB 160625B

Robert Strausbaugh, Nathaniel Butler, William H. Lee, Eleonora Troja, Alan M. Watson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Using deep and high-cadence gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow data from the Reionization And Transients Infra-Red/Optical camera, we observe a sharp and achromatic light curve break 12.6 days after the GRB, accompanied by an approximately achromatic bump. Fitting of the optical, near-infrared, and X-ray data suggest a very narrow (2°) jet that remains collimated at late time. We argue that the sharp light curve bump suggests an edge-brightened jet, perhaps emitting only during a brief period of lateral jet expansion. The light curve also exhibits a gradual spectral evolution lasting >10 days. The evolution of the flux can be modeled as , with a temporal slope α = -0.956 0.003 and a gradually time-varying spectral slope .

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberL6
JournalAstrophysical Journal Letters
Volume873
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

Keywords

  • gamma-ray burst: general
  • gamma-ray burst: individual (GRB 160625B)
  • stars: jets

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Evidence for a Bright-edged Jet in the Optical/Near-infrared Afterglow of GRB 160625B'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this