GRB 130925A
GCN Circular 15489
Subject
GRB 130925A: HST imaging
Date
2013-11-16T09:22:23Z (12 years ago)
From
Nial Tanvir at U.Leicester <nrt3@star.le.ac.uk>
N. R. Tanvir (U. Leicester), A. J. Levan (U. Warwick), R. Hounsell,
A. S. Fruchter (STScI), S. B. Cenko (NASA/GSFC), D. A. Perley (Caltech),
P. T. O'Brien (U. Leicester) report:
We imaged the location of GRB 130925A (Evans et al. GCN 15251;
Sudilovsky et al. GCN 15247) with HST at two epochs, at 20 days and
47 days post-burst respectively, in the F814W (I-band), F110W (J-band)
and F160W (H-band) filters.
The host galaxy is well resolved and appears to be an almost edge-on spiral.
The galaxy shows signs of disturbance: specifically the disk shows asymmetry
and the bulge appears to be extended perpendicular to the disk, suggestive
of a polar-ring morphology.
Image subtraction reveals evidence of faint transient light in the first epoch
in all three filters. The location is in good agreement with that from prior
ground-based imaging of the GRB. The transient position is close to the disk
plane, which likely accounts for the high extinction and X-ray column for this
event (Evans et al. GCN 15254). It is, however, slightly offset from the
nucleus of the galaxy by about 0.12 arcsec (~600pc in projection). This
would initially seem to be in conflict with a possible tidal disruption origin
for this event, although if the galaxy morphology is indicative of a recent
major merger, then it is plausible that the system currently contains more
than one super-massive black hole.
Further analysis is ongoing.
We thank the staff at STScI for approving and expediting
these ToO observations.
GCN Circular 15322
Subject
GRB 130925A: Possible signatures of binary nature in the afterglow - Request for observations
Date
2013-10-10T14:57:27Z (12 years ago)
From
Remo Rufinni at ICRA <ruffini@icra.it>
R. Ruffini, C.L. Bianco, M. Enderli, M. Muccino, A.V. Penacchioni, G.B.
Pisani, J.A. Rueda, N. Sahakyan, Y. Wang, L.Izzo report:
The observed X-ray emission in the afterglow of GRB 130925A (Lien et al., GCN 15247; Fitzpatrick et al., GCN 15255) presents an unprecedented sequence of flares departing from the canonical single power law decay (L \propto t^{-1.5}) observed in energetic GRBs-SNe (the "golden sample", Pisani et al. 2013, A&A 552, L5, arXiv:1304.1764). Correspondingly the X-ray Luminosity after 2*10^4 s in the rest-frame of the burst is almost constant (L \propto t^{-0.3}) and the energy emitted is a factor 30 larger than in the golden sample.
In the Induced Gravitational Collapse (IGC) paradigm, after the "input" due to a supernova explosion and the Black Hole formation (Ruffini 2013, IJMPD, 22, 1360009, arXiv:1310.1836), the "output" of a newly born Neutron Star from the Supernova and the Black Hole may remain bound in an elliptical orbit. This can explain the repeated flaring activity and the source of the larger observed energy.
In the canonical IGC scenario at z = 0.35 (Sudilovsky et al., GCN 15250, Vreeswijk et al., GCN 15249), assuming a 1998bw-like SN, a supernova should be expected to peak around the 10 - 16 October. It is crucial to perform optical observations in order to find out if the presence of the above mentioned binary nature in the "output" can modify the canonical scenario. Periodicities on time scales down to few minutes should be explored.
GCN Circular 15301
Subject
GRB 130925A: 3mm observations with CARMA
Date
2013-10-04T16:39:51Z (12 years ago)
From
Ashley Zauderer at CfA <bevinashley@gmail.com>
B. A. Zauderer, E. Berger, T. Laskar (Harvard) report on behalf of a larger
collaboration
as part of the CARMA Key Project "A Millimeter View of the Transient
Universe":
"We observed the position of GRB 130925A (Lien et al., GCN 15246) with the
Combined Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy (CARMA) beginning
2013 Sep 26.36 (dt = 1.19 d) at a mean frequency of 93 GHz. Observations
were
conducted in the compact E configuration, with significant flagging for
shadowed
antennas required. We do not detect any significant radio emission to a
3-sigma
limit of 0.6 mJy at the position of the Swift-XRT position (Evans et al.,
GCN 15251).
We thank the CARMA observers and staff for prompt execution of these
observations."
GCN Circular 15299
Subject
GRB 130925A/Sw J0244-2609: mm observations at PdBI
Date
2013-10-03T20:02:01Z (12 years ago)
From
Alberto Castro-Tirado at Inst.de Astro. de Andalucia <ajct@iaa.es>
A. J. Castro-Tirado (IAA-CSIC Granada and Univ. de M�laga), M. Bremer,
J.-M. Winters and S. Koenig (IRAM Grenoble), on behalf of a large
collaboration, report:
"Following the detection of the extraordinarily long event GRB 130925A/Sw
J0244-2609 by Swift (Lien et al. 2013, GCN 15247) we attempted on Oct 1
(00:30 UT) millimetre observations with the Plateu de Bure Interferometer
(PdBI) in the French Alps, in 6-antenna compact D configuration. Due to
the low declination, the source was lost for two antennas due to shadowing
effects by other antenna. No mm source is detected, with a 3 sigma limit
of 0.58 mJy at 86 GHz. This value is a factor of 30 times less than the
measured flux density for the tidal disruption flare candidate GRB
110328A/Sw J1644+5734 with PdBI one week post burst (Castro-Tirado et al.
2013, RMxAC 42, 36)."
GCN Circular 15286
Subject
NuSTAR observations of GRB 130925A
Date
2013-10-02T15:16:42Z (12 years ago)
From
Eric Bellm at Caltech <ebellm@caltech.edu>
E. C. Bellm, F. A. Harrison, K. Forster, K. K. Madsen, V. Rana
(Caltech), S. E. Boggs, J. Tomsick (U.C. Berkeley), J. M. Miller
(Michigan), and S. B. Cenko (NASA/GSFC) report on behalf of the NuSTAR
collaboration:
NuSTAR observed the unusual ultra-long GRB/TDE candidate GRB 130925A
(GCN 15246) beginning 44.3 hours after the Swift trigger for a total
of 39.2 ksec exposure time.
NuSTAR detects the source to >20 keV; the average 3-20 keV flux over
the interval was 1.3E-12 erg/cm^-2/s^-1. The data may be fit with an
absorbed power law with spectral index Gamma ~ 3.
NuSTAR observes a broad absorption feature centered near 6 keV.
Simultaneous Swift-XRT spectra support the existence of this feature
at lower SNR. An F-test of a Gaussian absorption feature fit to the
combined data sets yields a detection significance of 5.5 sigma.
Preliminary searches for features in the early-time XRT data have not
identified any clear signatures; additional tests are ongoing.
Further observations are in progress; we encourage continued
monitoring of this interesting event at all wavelengths.
We thank the NuSTAR Mission Operations Team for the rapid turnaround
that enabled this observation.
GCN Circular 15280
Subject
GRB 130925A: continuing Swift/XRT monitoring
Date
2013-10-01T17:52:33Z (12 years ago)
From
Daniele Malesani at Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Inst <malesani@dark-cosmology.dk>
D. Malesani (DARK/NBI), S. B. Cenko (NASA/GSFC), D. N. Burrows (PSU), A.
Y. Lien (NASA/GSFC/ORAU), P. A. Evans (U. Leicester), and N. Gehrels
(NASA/GSFC) report:
Swift has been continuously monitoring the X-ray counterpart of GRB
130925A (Lien et al., GCN 15246), with data currently extending up to
512 ks after the trigger. The intense X-ray flaring activity reported by
Burrows et al. (GCN 15253) and Evans et al. (GCN 15254) ceased between
12 and 28 ks after the trigger. The X-ray light curve from 27.9 to 512.4
ks can be modelled with an initial power-law decay with an index of
alpha = 0.84 +/- 0.03, followed by a possible break at 310 (+60, -50) ks
to an alpha of 1.38 (+0.47, -0.23). The updated X-ray light curve is
available at the following URL:
http://www.swift.ac.uk/xrt_curves/00571830/
While the duration of the prompt emission and the flaring activity are
extraordinary among GRBs (Suzuki et al., GCN 15248; Fitzpatrick, GCN
15255; Markwardt et al., GCN 15257; Savchenko et al., GCN 15259;
Golenetskii et al., GCN 15260; Jenke, GCN 15261; Hurley et al., GCN
15278), the late-time behaviour is typical of long-duration GRB
afterglows, and quite different from that of the TDE Swift J1644+57,
which showed continuous flares and dips, with no regular power-law decay
(e.g. Burrows et al. 2011, Nat, 476, 421). There is also no prior
detection of the source in BAT before the trigger (Markwardt et al., GCN
15257).
The extremely long-lived high-energy emission coupled with the
relatively steady power-law X-ray decay at t > 20 ks is reminiscent of
the so-called "ultra-long" GRBs (Levan et al. 2013, arXiv:1302.2352),
including GRB 101225A (Thoene et al. 2011, Nat, 480, 72; Campana et al.
2011, Nat, 480, 69), GRB 111209A (Gendre et al. 2013, ApJ, 766, 30), and
GRB 121027A. The origin of these events and their relation to
traditional long-duration GRBs (i.e., the core-collapse of a massive
star) remain controversial, so we encourage continued multi-wavelength
follow-up of this object.
GCN Circular 15278
Subject
IPN Observations of GRB 130925A
Date
2013-09-30T22:05:33Z (12 years ago)
From
Kevin Hurley at UCBerkeley/SSL <khurley@ssl.berkeley.edu>
K. Hurley, on behalf of the IPN team,
S. Golenetskii, R. Aptekar, V. Pal'shin, D. Frederiks,
D. Svinkin, and T. Cline, on behalf of the Konus-Wind team,
I. G. Mitrofanov, D. Golovin, M. L. Litvak, and A. B. Sanin,
on behalf of the HEND-Odyssey GRB team,
W. Boynton, C. Fellows, K. Harshman, H. Enos, and R. Starr, on
behalf of the GRS-Odyssey GRB team,
D. M. Smith, J. McTiernan, R. Schwartz, W.
Hajdas, and A. Zehnder, on behalf of the RHESSI GRB team,
A. von Kienlin, X. Zhang, A. Rau, V. Savchenko, E. Bozzo, and C.
Ferrigno, on behalf of the INTEGRAL SPI-ACS GRB team,
K. Yamaoka, M. Ohno, Y. Hanabata, Y. Fukazawa, T. Takahashi, M. Tashiro,
Y. Terada, T. Murakami, and K. Makishima on behalf of the Suzaku WAM team,
S. Barthelmy, J. Cummings, N. Gehrels, H. Krimm, and D. Palmer, on behalf of
the Swift-BAT team,
J. Goldsten, on behalf of the MESSENGER NS GRB team, and
V. Connaughton, M. S. Briggs, C. Meegan, and V. Pelassa, on behalf of the Fermi
GBM team, report:
Eight IPN spacecraft observed GRB 130925A (Lien et al. GCN 15246,
Markwardt et al. 15247). When the responses of all the spacecraft are
considered, the IPN had an uninterrupted view of this event from
roughly 900 s before the Swift BAT trigger, to ~7100 s after it.
Constraints on the arrival directions of the four main emission
episodes strengthen the case for their common origin, as suggested by
Savchenko et al. (GCN 15259). The following table details the
observations. The times are relative to the BAT trigger at 15084 s UT
(04:11:24). N/O means the episode was not observable.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Instrument/ | Precursor | 1st | 2nd | 3rd
spacecraft | -900 s | episode | episode | episode*
| | -130 -> +170 s|+1750 -> +2950 s|+3730 -> +4360 s
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Swift BAT No Trig N/O No
Fermi GBM Trig Trig N/O No
INTEGRAL SPI-ACS No Yes Yes Yes
Konus Wind Yes Yes Yes Yes
MESSENGER No Yes Yes No
Mars Odyssey No N/O Yes No
Suzaku WAM No No Yes No
RHESSI Yes Yes N/O No
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*also observed and localized by MAXI (Suzuki et al. GCN 15248)
We conclude from these observations that the total duration of this
event in >25 keV gamma-rays above the IPN flux/fluence threshold was
at least 5260 s, and ~7150 s long when the later episodes, observed only
by BAT (GCN 15257), are included.
GCN Circular 15268
Subject
Fermi LAT Upper Limits on GRB 130925A
Date
2013-09-28T00:03:12Z (12 years ago)
From
Daniel Kocevski at SLAC <dankocevski@gmail.com>
D. Kocevski, J. Racusin (NASA/GSFC), G. Vianello (Stanford), M. Axelsson
(Stockholm University), Nicola Omodei (Stanford) report on behalf of the
Fermi-LAT team:
A preliminary examination of the Fermi LAT data of the field containing GRB
130925A (Lien, et al., GCN 15246) has revealed no significant emission
above 40 MeV. The GRB was located ~22 degrees away from the LAT boresight
at the time of the first GBM detected emission associated with this burst
at 03:56:23.29 UT on 25 September 2013 (GCN 15255), hereafter T0(GBM), and
the subsequent autonomous repoint ensured that the source remained in the
field-of-view for the next ~2000s until it was occulted by the Earth.
Using an unbinned likelihood analysis, we estimate the following LAT upper
limits at 95% confidence for three separate time intervals, one covering
the entire 2000s that the source stayed in the LAT field-of-view, and two
of which correspond to the first and third emission episodes detected by
INTEGRAL/SPI-ACS (GCN 15259) and Konus-Wind (GCN 15260). We note that the
source was not in the LAT field-of-view during the second interval reported
in GCNs 15259 & 15260.
Interval 1: T0(GBM) to T0(GBM)+2000 = 7.3e-07 photons cm-2 s-1 (4.8e-10
ergs cm-2 s-1)
Interval 2: T0(GBM)+900s to T0(GBM)+1100s = 5.5e-06 photons cm-2 s-1
(3.6e-09 ergs cm-2 s-1)
Interval 3: T0(GBM)+4900 to T0(GBM)+5400 = 2.5e-06 photons cm-2 s-1
(1.6e-09 ergs cm-2 s-1)
This analysis covers an energy range of 0.1 to 10 GeV with a 12 deg
extraction region centered on the best known source position (GCN 15246).
The upper limits are computed using the P7SOURCE_V6 instrument response
functions, where we assume a power-law source spectrum fixed to a photon
index of -2.1, reflecting a typical value for high-energy emission in GRBs.
For reference, T0(GBM) = T0(BAT)-900s.
The Fermi LAT point of contact for this burst is Magnus Axelsson (
magnusa@astro.su.se).
The Fermi LAT is a pair conversion telescope designed to cover the energy
band from 20 MeV to greater than 300 GeV. It is the product of an
international collaboration between NASA and DOE in the U.S. and many
scientific institutions across France, Italy, Japan and Sweden.
GCN Circular 15267
Subject
GRB 130925A: Swift/UVOT Detection of the Host Galaxy
Date
2013-09-27T18:22:43Z (12 years ago)
From
Stephen Holland at STScI <sholland@stsci.edu>
S. T. Holland (STScI)
reports on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team:
Deep Swift/UVOT imaging taken between 157 s and 184.8 ks after
the BAT trigger (Lien et al, 2013, GCNC 15246) shows a faint source at
the location of the GROND detection (Sudilovsky et al. 2013, GCNC
15247). This source has a preliminary magnitude, on the UVOT
photometric system (Breeveld et al. 2011, AIP Conf. Proc. 1358, 373),
of white = 22.9 +/- 0.3 mag and is detected with a significance of 4.7
sigma. This magnitude has not been corrected for the expected
extinction due to the Galactic reddening along the line of sight to
this burst of E(B-V) = 0.02 mag (Schlafly et al. 2011, ApJS, 737,
103). The total white exposure time is 18 ks. There is no evidence
for variability.
The probability of finding a galaxy of this apparent luminosity
within the UVOT-enhanced XRT error circle (Evans et al. 2013, GCNC
15251) is 0.01 using the method of Bloom et al. (2002, AJ, 423, 1111).
The positional coincidence and lack of variability suggest that this
is the host galaxy of GRB 130925A. There is no evidence in the UVOT
data that this source has any extended structure.
GCN Circular 15266
Subject
GRB 130925A: Swift/UVOT Upper Limits
Date
2013-09-27T11:37:03Z (12 years ago)
From
Stephen Holland at STScI <sholland@stsci.edu>
S. T. Holland (STScI) and
A. Y. Lien (NASA/GSFC/ORAU)
report on behalf of the Swift/UVOT team:
The Swift/UVOT began settled observations of the field of GRB
130925A 157 s after the BAT trigger (Lien et al. 2013, GCNC 15246).
We do not detect any new source consistent with the GROND afterglow
position (Sudilovsky et al. 2013, GCNC 15247) in any of the UVOT
exposures. Preliminary 3-sigma upper limits, using the UVOT
photometric system (Breeveld et al. 2011, AIP Conf. Proc. 1358, 373),
for the finding chart and summed exposures are presented below.
---------------------------------------------------
Filter TSTART TSTOP Exposure Mag
---------------------------------------------------
white (FC) 157 306 147 >21.4
u (FC) 315 564 246 >20.6
---------------------------------------------------
v 645 7269 381 >20.0
b 571 6121 170 >20.6
u 719 5983 274 >20.4
uvw1 5579 11,956 701 >21.1
uvm2 5374 11,436 1082 >21.2
uvw2 4964 7136 393 >20.7
white 595 6929 618 >22.0
---------------------------------------------------
The quoted upper limits have not been corrected for the expected
extinction due to the Galactic reddening along the line of sight to
this burst of E(B-V) = 0.02 mag (Schlafly et al. 2011, ApJS, 737,
103).
GCN Circular 15264
Subject
GRB 130925A: sub-mm non-detection with SMA
Date
2013-09-27T10:47:02Z (12 years ago)
From
Ashley Zauderer at CfA <bevinashley@gmail.com>
A. Zauderer, E. Berger (Harvard), and G. Petitpas (SMA) report on behalf of
a larger collaboration:
"We observed the position of GRB 130925A (Lien et al., GCN 15246) beginning
2013 Sep 26.31 UT
(dt = 1.1 d) with the SMA at a mean frequency of 230 GHz. We find no
significant radio emission
at the position of the enhanced Swift-XRT position (Evans et al., GCN
15250) to a 3-sigma limit of 1.89 mJy.
Observations are ongoing.
We thank the SMA staff for prompt execution of these observations."
GCN Circular 15263
Subject
GRB 130925A: optical upper limit
Date
2013-09-27T10:43:49Z (12 years ago)
From
Alexei Pozanenko at IKI, Moscow <apozanen@iki.rssi.ru>
A. Volnova (IKI), N. Minikulov (Institute of Astrophysics), S. Abdulaev
(Institute of Astrophysics), I. Molotov (KIAM), A. Pozanenko (IKI)
report on behalf of larger GRB follow-up collaboration:
We observed the field of GRB 130925A (Lien, et al., GCN 15246) with
AZT-8 (0.7m) telescope of Gissar observatory in R filter starting on
Sep. 25 (UT) 22:15. We do not detect optical afterglow (Sudilovsky et
al., GCN 15247). A preliminary photometry of combined image is following
T_start T0+ Filter, Exposure, OT, UL(3 sigma)
(UT) (mid, d) (s)
2013-09-25T22:16:55 0.7766 R 60x60 n/d 19.9
The photometry is based on the reference star USNO-B1.0 0638-0038928
RA 02:45:02.36 Dec -26:10:50.2 (J2000), assuming R = 17.07
GCN Circular 15262
Subject
GRB 130925A: Continued RATIR Optical and NIR Observations
Date
2013-09-26T17:50:25Z (12 years ago)
Edited On
2024-11-07T19:51:02Z (10 months ago)
From
Nat Butler at Az State U <natbutler@asu.edu>
Edited By
Vidushi Sharma at NASA GSFC/UMBC <vidushi.sharma@nasa.gov> on behalf of Leo P. Singer at NASA/GSFC <leo.p.singer@nasa.gov>
Nat Butler (ASU), Alan M. Watson (UNAM), Alexander Kutyrev (GSFC), William
H. Lee (UNAM), Michael G. Richer (UNAM), Chris Klein (UCB), Ori Fox (UCB),
J. Xavier Prochaska (UCSC), Josh Bloom (UCB), Antonino Cucchiara (UCSC),
Eleonora Troja (GSFC), Owen Littlejohns (ASU), Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz (UCSC),
José A. de Diego (UNAM), Leonid Georgiev (UNAM), Jesús González (UNAM),
Carlos Román-Zúñiga (UNAM), Neil Gehrels (GSFC), and Harvey Moseley (GSFC)
report:
We observed the field of GRB 130925A (Lien, et al., GCN 15246) with the
Reionization and Transients Infrared Camera (RATIR; www.ratir.org) on the
1.5m Harold Johnson Telescope at the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional on
Sierra San Pedro Mártir from 2013/09 26.28 to 2013/09 26.51 UTC (26.43 to
31.98 hours after the BAT trigger), obtaining a total of 3.66 hours
exposure in the r and i bands and 1.12 hours exposure in the Z, Y, J, and H
bands.
For the uncatalogued source in the enhanced Swift-XRT error circle (Evans
et al., GCN 15251) reported previously (Butler et al., GCN 15258), in
comparison with 2MASS, we obtain the following detections and upper limit
(3-sigma):
r 22.29 +/- 0.16
i 21.36 +/- 0.13
Z > 21.5
Y 21.28 +/- 0.29
J 19.69 +/- 0.06
H 20.02 +/- 0.17
These magnitudes are in the AB system and are not corrected for Galactic
extinction in the direction of the GRB. Compared to our observations the
night before (GCN 15258), the source has apparently remained approximately
constant in flux in all bands. We cannot determine, as did Sudilovsky et
al. (GCN 15247), that the source is fading.
We thank the staff of the Observatorio Astronómico Nacional in San Pedro
Mártir.
GCN Circular 15261
Subject
GRB 130925A: Fermi GBM Detection
Date
2013-09-26T15:42:20Z (12 years ago)
From
Peter Jenke at MSFC <peter.a.jenke@nasa.gov>
P. Jenke (UAH) reports on behalf of the Fermi GBM Team:
"At 04:09:26.73 UT on September 25 2013, the Fermi Gamma-Ray
Burst Monitor triggered and located
GRB 130925A (trigger 401774969/130925173),
which was also detected by Swift (Lien et al. GCN 15246)
and MAXI (Suzuki et al., GCN 15248).
The trigger resulted in an Autonomous Repoint Request (ARR)
that was accepted and the LAT slewed to the GBM in-flight
location which was consistent with the Swift/XRT position
(Evans et al. GCN 15251). The angle from the Fermi LAT boresight
is 22 deg from Swift/XRT position.
The GBM light curve consists of multiple peaks with a
duration (T90) of about 212 s (50-300 keV).
The time-averaged spectrum from T0-6 s to T0+288 s is
best fit with a power law function with an exponential high-energy
cutoff parameterized as Epeak = 107 +/- 3 keV and
an Index = -1.50 +/- 0.05.
The event fluence (10-1000 keV) in this time interval is
(2.83 +/- 0.06)E-07 erg/cm^2. The 1.0-sec peak photon flux
measured starting from T0+83 s in the 10-1000 keV band
is 11.5 +/- 0.3 ph/s/cm^2.
This event, although initially classified as a GRB, has been
shown to exhibit behavior consistent with a Tidal Disruption
Event (Burrows et al. GCN 15253). Its location suggests that
it is the same source as
GBM trigger 401774186/130925164 (G. Fitzpatrick GCN 15255).
The spectral analysis results presented above are preliminary;
final results will be published in the GBM GRB Catalog."
GCN Circular 15260
Subject
Konus-Wind observation of GRB 130925A
Date
2013-09-26T15:36:02Z (12 years ago)
From
Dmitry Frederiks at Ioffe Institute <fred@mail.ioffe.ru>