Abstract
Abstract In light of the joint multimessenger detection of a binary neutron star merger as the gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A and in gravitational waves as GW170817, we reanalyze the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor data of one of the closest short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs): GRB 150101B. We find that this burst is composed of a short hard spike followed by a comparatively long soft tail. This apparent two-component nature is phenomenologically similar to that of GRB 170817A. While GRB 170817A was distinct from the previously known population of SGRBs in terms of its prompt intrinsic energetics, GRB 150101B is not. Despite these differences, GRB 150101B can be modeled as a more on-axis version of GRB 170817A. Identifying a similar signature in two of the closest SGRBs suggests that the soft tail is common, but generally undetectable in more distant events. If so, it will be possible to identify nearby SGRBs from the prompt gamma-ray emission alone, aiding the search for kilonovae.
Highlights
Burns et al (2016) asserted that extremely close short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) are not necessarily bright
This expectation was spectacularly confirmed by the joint multimessenger detection of the merging of two neutron stars in gravitational wave (GW) as GW170817 (Abbott et al 2017c) by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO; Aasi et al 2015) and Advanced Virgo (Acernese et al 2015) and in gamma-rays as the low-luminosity GRB 170817A (Goldstein et al 2017; Savchenko et al 2017) by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM; Meegan et al 2009) and by the SPectrometer on-board INTEGRAL Anti-Coincidence Shield (SPI-ACS; von Kienlin et al 2003)
There is evidence in favor of the soft tail originating from thermal emission: there is a statistical preference for a blackbody spectrum in both the time-integrated and time-resolved fits of the soft tail, the parameters of a comptonized spectrum being similar to those that would arise from a thermal component, and evidence of cooling
Summary
Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/physics_astronomy_pubs. Recommended Citation Burns, E., Veres, P., Connaughton, V., Racusin, J., Briggs, M., Christensen, N., Goldstein, A., Hamburg, R., Kocevski, D., McEnery, J., Bissaldi, E., Canton, T., Cleveland, W., Gibby, M., Hui, C., Kienlin, A., Mailyan, B., Paciesas, W., Roberts, O., Siellez, K., Stanbro, M., & Wilson-Hodge, C. This article is available at LSU Digital Commons: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/physics_astronomy_pubs/575. Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstrasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany Center for Relativistic Astrophysics and School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA. Received 2018 July 13; revised 2018 August 3; accepted 2018 August 4; published 2018 August 17
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