Delayed soft X-ray emission lines in the afterglow of GRB 030227

Abstract

Strong, delayed X-ray line emission is detected in the afterglow of GRB 030227, appearing near the end of the XMM-Newton observation, nearly twenty hours after the burst. The observed flux in the lines, not simply the equivalent width, sharply increases from an undetectable level (<1.7e-14 erg/cm^2/s, 3 sigma) to 4.1e-14 erg/cm^2/s in the final 9.7 ks. The line emission alone has nearly twice as many detected photons as any previous detection of X-ray lines. The lines correspond well to hydrogen and/or helium-like emission from Mg, Si, S, Ar and Ca at a redshift z=1.39. There is no evidence for Fe, Co or Ni--the ultimate iron abundance must be less than a tenth that of the lighter metals. If the supernova and GRB events are nearly simultaneous there must be continuing, sporadic power output after the GRB of a luminosity >~5e46 erg/s, exceeding all but the most powerful quasars.

arXiv commentSubmitted to ApJL. 14 pages, 3 figures with AASLaTeX

References in corpus (28)

• Collapsars - Gamma-Ray Bursts and Explosions in "Failed Supernovae"
• Discovery of the peculiar supernova 1998bw in the error box of GRB980425
• A very energetic supernova associated with the gamma-ray burst of 29 March 2003
• Beaming in Gamma-Ray Bursts: Evidence for a Standard Energy Reservoir
• Are Gamma-Ray Bursts in Star Forming Regions?
• The unusual afterglow of GRB 980326: evidence for the gamma-ray burst/supernova connection
• Relativistic Jets in Collapsars
• The prompt energy release of gamma-ray bursts using a cosmological k-correction
• A gamma ray burst with small contamination
• Observation of X-ray lines from a Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB991216): Evidence of Moving Ejecta from the Progenitor
• The Signature of Supernova Ejecta Measured in the X-ray Afterglow of Gamma-Ray Burst 011211
• Discovery of a redshifted Iron K-line in the X-ray afterglow of GRB 000214
• The bright optical afterglow of the nearby gamma-ray burst of 29 March 2003
• Iron K-alpha Emission from a Decaying Magnetar Model of Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Nucleosynthesis in Gamma Ray Burst Accretion Disks
• A Possible Emission Feature in an X-ray Afterglow of GRB970828 as a Radiative Recombination Edge
• The X-ray afterglows of gamma-ray bursts GRB 001025A and GRB 010220 observed with XMM-Newton
• Soft X-ray emission lines in the afterglow spectrum of GRB 011211:- a detailed XMM-Newton analysis
• Emission lines in GRBs constrain the total energy reservoir
• Iron K-alpha Emission from X-ray Reflection: Predictions for Gamma-Ray Burst Models
• Statistical Re-examination of Reported Emission Lines in the X-ray Afterglow of GRB 011211
• Soft X-ray emission lines in the early afterglow of gamma-ray bursts
• INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton observations of the weak GRB 030227
• Parameter Estimation In X-ray Astronomy Revisited
• Observations of the X-ray Afterglows of GRB011211 and GRB001025 by XMM-Newton
• The X-ray afterglow of GRB 020322
• X-ray Lines From Gamma-ray Bursts
• Thermal components in the early X-ray afterglow of GRBs

Cited by in corpus (34)

• Gamma-Ray Bursts: Progress, Problems & Prospects
• Signatures of Extragalactic Dust in pre-Swift GRB Afterglows
• The First Survey of X-ray Flares from Gamma Ray Bursts Observed by Swift: Spectral Properties and Energetics
• The Giant X-ray Flare of GRB 050502B: Evidence for Late-Time Internal Engine Activity
• Absorption in Gamma Ray Burst afterglows
• A very low luminosity X-ray flash: XMM-Newton observations of GRB 031203
• Phenomenology of Reverse-Shock Emission in the Optical Afterglows of Gamma Ray Bursts
• The Polar Regions of Cassiopeia A: The Aftermath of a Gamma Ray Burst?
• Outshining the quasars at reionisation: The X-ray spectrum and lightcurve of the redshift 6.29 Gamma-Ray Burst GRB050904
• On the Early Time X-ray Spectra of Swift Afterglows I: Evidence for Anomalous Soft X-ray Emission
• Line Searches in Swift X-ray Spectra
• A self-consistent analytical magnetar model: The luminosity of $\gamma$-ray burst supernovae is powered by radioactivity
• Nucleosynthesis inside Gamma-Ray Burst Accretion Disks
• The updated spectral catalogue of INTEGRAL Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Small-scale variations in the radiating surface of the GRB 011211 jet
• A Search for Discrete X-ray Spectral Features in a Sample of Bright Gamma-ray Burst Afterglows
• Study of Lorentz violation in INTEGRAL Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Swift multi-wavelength observations of the bright flaring burst GRB051117A
• Multi-Wavelength Studies of the Optically Dark Gamma-Ray Burst 001025A
• XMM-Newton and VLT observations of the afterglow of GRB040827
• Gamma-Ray Burst Dust Echoes Revisited: Expectations at Early Times
• Massive star-formation rates of gamma-ray burst host galaxies: an unobscured view in X-rays
• Searching for narrow absorption and emission lines in XMM-Newton spectra of gamma-ray bursts
• Swift and Suzaku Observations of the X-Ray Afterglow from the GRB 060105
• High Resolution Gratings Spectroscopy of GRBs 030382 and 041006 with Chandra LETGS
• Detectability of GRB Iron Lines by Swift, Chandra and XMM
• The X-ray emission lines in GRB afterglows: the evidence for the two-component jet model
• A search for lines in the bright X-ray afterglow of GRB120711A
• Soft X-ray absorption excess in gamma-ray burst afterglow spectra: Absorption by turbulent ISM
• Non-detection of the Gamma-ray Burst X-ray Emission Line: The Down-Comptonization Effect
• A New Model for Iron Emission Lines and Re-Burst in GRB X-Ray Afterglows
• Reconsidering the origin of the X-ray emission lines in GRB 011211
• Can the Bump be Observed in the Early Afterglow of GRBS with X-Ray Line Emission Features?
• The INTEGRAL view of Gamma-Ray Bursts