Optical emission from GRB 050709: a short/hard GRB in a star forming galaxy

Abstract

We present optical observations of the short/hard gamma-ray burst GRB 050709, the first such event with an identified optical counterpart. The object is coincident with a weak X-ray source and is located inside a galaxy at redshift z = 0.1606 +- 0.0002. Multiband photometry allowed us to study the broad-band spectral energy distribution. Late-time monitoring places strong limits on any supernova simultaneous with the GRB. The host galaxy is not of early type. Spectra show that the dominant stellar population is relatively young (~ 1 Gyr), and that ongoing star formation is present at a level of 2-3 (L/L*) Msun/yr. This is at least 2 orders of magnitude larger than that observed in the elliptical hosts of the short GRB 050509B and GRB 050724. This shows that at least some short GRBs originate in a young population. Short/hard GRB models based on the merger of a binary degenerate system are compatible with the host galaxy characteristics, although there is still the possibility of a connection between young stars and at least a fraction of such events.

arXiv comment4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A Letters

References in corpus (19)

• Star Formation in Galaxies Along the Hubble Sequence
• A method for optimal image subtraction
• The Galaxy Luminosity Function and Luminosity Density at Redshift z=0.1
• A short gamma-ray burst apparently asssociated with an elliptical galaxy at redshift z=0.225
• An exceptionally bright flare from SGR1806-20 and the origins of short-duration gamma-ray bursts
• The afterglow of GRB050709 and the nature of the short-hard gamma-ray bursts
• The afterglow and elliptical host galaxy of the short gamma-ray burst GRB 050724
• An origin for short g-ray bursts unassociated with current star formation
• UV star-formation rates of GRB host galaxies
• The optical afterglow of the short gamma-ray burst GRB 050709
• Flares in long and short Gamma-Ray Bursts: a common origin in a hyperaccreting accretion disk
• Discovery of the short gamma-ray burst GRB 050709
• Gamma-ray bursts: Restarting the Engine
• GRB 050509B: Constraints on short gamma-ray burst models
• Short GRBs and Mergers of Compact Objects: Observational Constraints
• A New Formation Channel for Double Neutron Stars Without Recycling: Implications for Gravitational Wave Detection
• A comparative study of the X-ray afterglow properties of optically bright and dark GRBs
• Afterglow upper limits for four short duration, hard spectrum gamma-ray bursts
• GRB 050509b: the elusive optical/nIR/mm afterglow of a short-duration GRB

Cited by in corpus (67)

• Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Swift Era
• A Decade of Short-duration Gamma-ray Burst Broad-band Afterglows: Energetics, Circumburst Densities, and Jet Opening Angles
• The Galaxy Population Hosting Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The Afterglows of Swift-era Gamma-Ray Bursts. I. Comparing pre-Swift and Swift era Long/Soft (Type II) GRB Optical Afterglows
• An origin for short g-ray bursts unassociated with current star formation
• The Progenitors of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The rate, luminosity function and time delay of non-Collapsar short GRBs
• The Afterglows of Swift-era Gamma-Ray Bursts II.: Type I GRB versus Type II GRB Optical Afterglows
• Signatures of Extragalactic Dust in pre-Swift GRB Afterglows
• Making a Short Gamma-Ray Burst from a Long one: Implications for the Nature of GRB 060614
• The Macronova in GRB 050709 and the GRB/macronova connection
• GRB 080503: Implications of a Naked Short Gamma-Ray Burst Dominated by Extended Emission
• The Local Rate and the Progenitor Lifetimes of Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Bursts: Synthesis and Predictions for LIGO
• A New Population of High Redshift Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The Stellar Ages and Masses of Short GRB Host Galaxies: Investigating the Progenitor Delay Time Distribution and the Role of Mass and Star Formation in the Short GRB Rate
• A complete sample of bright Swift short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The BATSE-Swift luminosity and redshift distributions of short-duration GRBs
• Different progenitors of short hard gamma-ray bursts
• The Galaxy Hosts and Large-Scale Environments of Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Spatially resolved properties of the GRB 060505 host: implications for the nature of the progenitor
• Short GRB Host Galaxies I: Photometric and Spectroscopic Catalogs, Host Associations, and Galactocentric Offsets
• The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems
• Short Gamma-Ray Bursts and Binary Mergers in Spiral and Elliptical Galaxies: Redshift Distribution and Hosts
• Kilonova/Macronova Emission from Compact Binary Mergers
• The Environments of Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Bursts and Implications for their Progenitors
• The X-ray afterglow of the short gamma ray burst 050724
• The Diversity of Kilonova Emission in Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The optical afterglows and host galaxies of three short/hard gamma-ray bursts
• Short GRB Host Galaxies. II. A Legacy Sample of Redshifts, Stellar Population Properties, and Implications for their Neutron Star Merger Origins
• A luminosity distribution for kilonovae based on short gamma-ray burst afterglows
• Are all short-hard gamma-ray bursts produced from mergers of compact stellar objects?
• A Putative Early-Type Host Galaxy for GRB 060502B: Implications for the Progenitors of Short-Duration Hard-Spectrum Bursts
• GRB 060313: A New Paradigm for Short-Hard Bursts?
• Direct evidence for a supernova interacting with a large amount of hydrogen-free circumstellar material
• Deducing the Lifetime of Short Gamma-Ray Burst Progenitors from Host Galaxy Demography
• Multicolor observations of the afterglow of the short/hard GRB 050724
• GRB 060121: Implications of a Short/Intermediate Duration Gamma-Ray Burst at High Redshift
• Limits on Radioactive-Powered Emission Associated With a Short-Hard GRB 070724A in a Star-Forming Galaxy
• The Spectral Lag of GRB060505: A Likely Member of the Long Duration Class
• Measuring the Hubble Constant with a sample of kilonovae
• Probing Kilonova Ejecta Properties Using a Catalog of Short Gamma-Ray Burst Observations
• The short GRB070707 afterglow and its very faint host galaxy
• Short Gamma Ray Bursts: a bimodal origin?
• Super-solar metallicity at the position of the ultra-long GRB130925A
• GRB/GW association: Long-short GRB candidates, time-lag, measuring gravitational wave velocity and testing Einstein's equivalence principle
• Off-Axis Properties of Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The short-duration GRB 050724 host galaxy in the context of the long-duration GRB hosts
• Are short gamma-ray bursts collimated? GRB050709, a flare but no break
• Identifying the Location in the Host Galaxy of the Short GRB 111117A with the Chandra Sub-arcsecond Position
• Short Hard Gamma Ray Bursts And Their Afterglows
• Spectroscopy and multiband photometry of the afterglow of intermediate duration gamma-ray burst 040924 and its host galaxy
• Halo Retention and Evolution of Coalescing Compact Binaries in Cosmological Simulations of Structure Formation: Implications for Short Gamma-Ray Bursts
• Evidence of extended emission in GRB 181123B and other high-redshift short GRBs
• A search for the afterglows, kilonovae, and host galaxies of two short GRBs: GRB 211106A and GRB 211227A
• The Progenitors of Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Bursts from an Extended Sample of Events
• Eighteen Years of Kilonova Discoveries with Swift
• Constraints on an optical afterglow and on supernova light following the short burst GRB 050813
• Anatomy of A Dark Burst - The Afterglow of GRB 060108
• Some Theoretical Implications of Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Burst observations
• SDSS Pre-Burst Observations of Recent Gamma-Ray Burst Fields
• Possible correlations between the emission properties of short GRBs and their offsets from the host galaxies
• Where has all the $r$-process gone? Timescales for GRB-Kilonovae to Enrich their Host Galaxies
• ALMA Host galaxy observation of the off-axis Gamma-Ray Burst XRF020903
• The Swift Discovery of X-ray Afterglows Accompanying Short Bursts from SGR 1900+14
• Is the line-like optical afterglow SED of GRB 050709 due to a flare?
• Host galaxies and electromagnetic counterparts to binary neutron star mergers across the cosmic time: Detectability of GW170817-like events
• Short Gamma Ray Bursts: marking the birth of black holes from coalescing compact binaries