Dust properties at z=6.3 in the host galaxy of GRB 050904

Abstract

We investigate the dust extinction properties in the host galaxy of the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) GRB 050904 at z=6.29 by analyzing simultaneous broad band observations of the optical and UV afterglow at three different epochs. We show that the peculiar afterglow spectral energy distribution (SED) observed at 0.5 days and at 1 day after the burst (1.6 and 3 hours rest frame) cannot be explained with dust reddening with any of the extinction curves observed at low redshift. Yet, the extinction curve recently inferred for the most distant BAL QSO at z=6.2 nicely reproduces the SED of GRB 050904 at both epochs. Our result provides an additional, independent indication that the properties of dust evolve beyond z~6. We discuss the implications of this finding within the context of the dust production mechanisms through the cosmic ages.

4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

References in corpus (6)

• 350 Micron Dust Emission from High Redshift Quasars
• Dust yields in clumpy SN shells: SN 1987A revisited
• No cold dust within the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A
• Far-infrared and sub-mm observations of the Crab nebula
• A metal rich molecular cloud surrounds GRB 050904 at redshift 6.3
• The prompt optical/near-infrared flare of GRB 050904: the most luminous transient ever detected

Cited by in corpus (33)

• Four quasars above redshift 6 discovered by the Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey
• The Dust Attenuation Law in Galaxies
• Can Supermassive Black Holes Form in Metal-Enriched High-Redshift Protogalaxies ?
• Rapid dust production in submillimeter galaxies at z>4?
• The ALPINE-ALMA [CII] survey: Dust attenuation properties and obscured star formation at z~4.4-5.8
• Dust production 680-850 million years after the Big Bang
• Dust-free quasars in the early Universe
• Spitzer Observations of the z=2.73 Lensed Lyman Break Galaxy, MS1512-cB58
• Dust scaling relations in a cosmological simulation
• Modeling the Dust Properties of z ~ 6 Quasars with ART^2 -- All-wavelength Radiative Transfer with Adaptive Refinement Tree
• Interpreting the evolution of galaxy colours from $z=8$ to $z=5$
• No evidence for dust extinction in GRB 050904 at z ~ 6.3
• VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy of the GRB 090926A afterglow
• Dust in the wind: Crystalline silicates, corundum and periclase in PG 2112+059
• On Dust Extinction of Gamma-ray Burst Host Galaxies
• The extreme, red afterglow of GRB 060923A: Distance or dust?
• Dust attenuation law in JWST galaxies at z = 7-8
• On Contamination and Completeness in z>5 Lyman Break Galaxy Surveys
• The IRX-$\beta$ relation of high-redshift galaxies
• Dust reddening and extinction curves towards gamma-ray bursts at z > 4
• Extinction curves flattened by reverse shocks in supernovae
• On inferring extinction laws in z~6 quasars as signatures of supernova dust
• Physical Mechanism for the Intermediate Characteristic Stellar Mass in the Extremely Metal-poor Environments
• Probing Cosmic Dust of the Early Universe through High-Redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts
• The Origin of the Dust Extinction Curve in Milky Way-like Galaxies
• Prospects for AGN studies with ALMA
• Determining the Dust Extinction of Gamma-ray Burst Host Galaxies: A Direct Method Based on Optical and X-ray Photometry
• Dust evolution processes constrained by extinction curves in nearby galaxies
• The dust attenuation law in $z\sim 6$ quasars
• Robust photometric redshift determinations of gamma-ray burst afterglows at z > 2
• Fires in the deep: The luminosity distribution of early-time gamma-ray-burst afterglows in light of the Gamow Explorer sensitivity requirements
• ALPINE: A Large Survey to Understand Teenage Galaxies
• Optical-NIR spectra of quasars close to reionization (z~ 6)