Optical Afterglow Research Articles

Is Gamma-Ray Burst 221009A Really a Once-in-10,000 yr Event?

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) brighter than the GRB 221009A, the brightest yet observed, have previously been estimated to occur at a rate of one per 10,000 yr, based on the extrapolation of the distribution of fluences of the long-GRB population. We show that bursts this bright could instead have a rate as high as approximately one per 200 yr if they are from a separate population of narrow-jet GRBs. This population must have a maximum redshift of about z ≈ 0.38 in order to avoid overproducing the observed rate of fainter GRBs. We show that it will take ≳100 yr to confirm this new population based on observing another GRB from it with a γ-ray detector; observing an orphan optical afterglow from this population with Vera Rubin Observatory or an orphan radio afterglow with the Square Kilometer Array will also take similarly long times to observe, and it is unclear if they could be distinguished from the standard GRB population. We show that the nearby narrow-jet population has more favorable energetics for producing ultra-high-energy cosmic rays than standard GRBs. The rate of bursts in the Milky Way bright enough to cause mass extinctions of life on Earth from the narrow-jet population is estimated to be approximately one per 500 Myr. This GRB population could make life in the Milky Way less likely, with implications for future searches for life on exoplanets.

A Millimeter Rebrightening in GRB 210702A

We present X-ray to radio frequency observations of the bright long gamma-ray burst GRB 210702A. Our Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 97.5 GHz observations show a significant rebrightening by a factor of ≈2 beginning at 8.2 days post-burst and rising to peak brightness at 18.1 days before declining again. This is the first such rebrightening seen in a millimeter afterglow light curve. A standard forward shock model in a stellar wind circumburst medium can explain most of our X-ray, optical, and millimeter observations prior to the rebrightening, but significantly overpredicts the self-absorbed radio emission, and cannot explain the millimeter rebrightening. We investigate possible explanations for the millimeter rebrightening, and find that energy injection or a reverse shock from a late-time shell collision are plausible causes. Similar to other bursts, our radio data may require alternative scenarios such as a thermal electron population or a structured jet to explain the data. Our observations demonstrate that millimeter light curves can exhibit some of the rich features more commonly seen in optical and X-ray afterglow light curves, motivating further millimeter wavelength studies of GRB afterglows.

Varying linear polarisation in the dust-free gamma-ray burst 210610B

Context. Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced by the collapse of some very massive stars, that emit ultra-relativistic jets. When the jets collide with the interstellar medium they decelerate and generate the so-called afterglow emission, which has been observed to be polarised. Aims. We study the polarimetric evolution of the GRB 210610B afterglow, at z = 1.1341. This allows us to evaluate the role of geometric and/or magnetic mechanisms in the GRB afterglow polarisation. Methods. We observed GRB 210610B using imaging polarimetry with CAFOS on the 2.2 m Calar Alto Telescope and FORS2 on the 4 × 8.1 m Very Large Telescope. Complementary optical spectroscopy was obtained with OSIRIS on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias. We studied the GRB light-curve from X-rays to the optical bands and the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED). This allowed us to strongly constrain the line-of-sight extinction. Finally, we studied the GRB host galaxy using optical to NIR data to fit the SED and derive its integrated properties. Results. GRB 210610B had a bright afterglow with a negligible line-of-sight extinction. Polarimetry was obtained at three epochs: during an early plateau phase, at the time when the light curve breaks, and after the light curve steepened. We observe an initial polarisation of ∼4% that goes to zero at the time of the break, and it then again increases to ∼2%, with a change in the position angle of 54 ± 9 deg. The spectrum shows features with very low equivalent widths. This indicate a small amount of material in the line of sight within the host. Conclusions. The lack of dust and the low amount of material in the line of sight to GRB 210610B allowed us to study the intrinsic polarisation of the GRB optical afterglow. The GRB polarisation signals are consistent with ordered magnetic fields in refreshed shock or/and hydrodynamics-scale turbulent fields in the forward shock.

GRB 210610B: The Internal and External Plateau as Evidence for the Delayed Outflow of Magnetar

After launching a jet, outflows of magnetar were used to account for the achromatic plateau of afterglow and the early X-ray flux plateau known as “internal plateau”. The lack of detecting magnetic dipole emission together with the energy injection feature in a single observation poses confusion until the long gamma-ray burst (GRB) 210610B is detected. GRB 210610B is presented with an optical bump following an early X-ray plateau during the afterglow phase. The plateau followed by a steep decline flux overlays in the steadily decaying X-ray flux with index α X,1 ∼ 2.06, indicating an internal origin and that can be fitted by the spin-down luminosity law with the initial plateau luminosity log10LX∼48.29ergs−1 and the characteristic spin-down timescale T ∼ 2818 s. A subsequent bump begins at ∼4000 s in the R band with a rising index α R,1 ∼ − 0.30 and peaks at ∼14125 s, after which a decay index α R,2 ∼ 0.87 and finally transiting to a steep decay with α R,3 ∼ 1.77 achieve the closure relation of the external shock for the normal decay phase as well as the magnetar spin-down energy injection phase, provided that the average value of the photon index Γ γ = 1.80 derived from the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) between the X-ray and optical afterglow. The closure relation also works for the late X-ray flux. Akin to the traditional picture of GRB, the outflow powers the early X-ray plateau by dissipating energy internally and collides with the leading decelerating blast burst as time goes on, which could interpret the exotic feature of GRB 210610B. We carry out a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation and obtain a set of best parameters: ϵ B ≃ 4.7 × 10−5, ϵ e ≃ 0.15, E K,iso ≃ 4.6 × 1053erg, Γ0 ≃ 832, A * ≃ 0.10, L inj,0 ≃ 3.55 × 1050erg s−1. The artificial light curve can fit the afterglow data well. After that, we estimated the average Lorentz factor and the X-ray radiation efficiency of the later ejecta are 35% and 0.13%, respectively.

A Possibly Short GRB 180418A and Phenomenology of Reverse-Shock Emission in the Optical Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts

We present early-time ground-based optical follow-up observations of GRB 180418A, which was discovered by both Swift/BAT and Fermi/GBM. Its broadband afterglow was well monitored by Swift/XRT and ground-based optical telescopes. The optical light curve of GRB 180418A can be modeled by forward shock (FS) plus reverse shock (RS). We fit the light curves with standard external shock models and derive the physical properties of the outflow. It is found that the ratio R B ≡ ε B,r /ε B,f is 11.22, indicating a moderate degree of magnetization in the RS region. The reported duration of GRB 180418A, T 90, lies in the intermediate region between short and long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We further discuss the classification of GRB 180418A, and calculate ε = E γ,iso,52/E p,z,2 values of 0.026 and 0.018 (assuming the redshift z is 1.0 and 1.5, respectively), which is closer to short GRBs (SGRBs) in the ε-T 90,z plane. If GRB 180418A is an SGRB, it is the only reported SGRB thus far with RS emission in optical light curves. In order to compare the properties of GRB 180418A, we collected three SGRBs that may have RS emission (GRBs 060313, 090426, and 210207B) and also 22 long GRBs (LGRBs) with RS emission. We find that the parameters of LGRBs are in a wider range than those of SGRBs. Also, SGRBs appear to have very small R B values, but the results are generally similar to those of LGRBs. The fitting parameters of GRB 180418A are generally consistent with those of the other three SGRBs, implying that GRB 180418A may belong to the category of SGRBs.

Gamma-Ray Bursts as Distance Indicators by a Statistical Learning Approach

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can be probes of the early Universe, but currently, only 26% of GRBs observed by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory have known redshifts (z) due to observational limitations. To address this, we estimated the GRB redshift (distance) via a supervised statistical learning model that uses optical afterglow observed by Swift and ground-based telescopes. The inferred redshifts are strongly correlated (a Pearson coefficient of 0.93) with the observed redshifts, thus proving the reliability of this method. The inferred and observed redshifts allow us to estimate the number of GRBs occurring at a given redshift (GRB rate) to be 8.47–9 yr−1 Gpc−1 for 1.9 < z < 2.3. Since GRBs come from the collapse of massive stars, we compared this rate with the star formation rate, highlighting a discrepancy of a factor of 3 at z < 1.

An evaluation of the BALROG and RoboBA algorithms for determining the position of Fermi/GBM GRBs

ABSTRACT The Fermi/GBM instrument is a vital source of detections of gamma-ray bursts and has an increasingly important role to play in understanding gravitational-wave transients. In both cases, its impact is increased by accurate positions with reliable uncertainties. We evaluate the RoboBA and BALROG algorithms for determining the position of gamma-ray bursts detected by the Fermi/GBM instrument. We construct a sample of 54 bursts with detections both by Swift/BAT and by Fermi/GBM. We then compare the positions predicted by RoboBA and BALROG with the positions measured by BAT, which we can assume to be the true position. We find that RoboBA and BALROG are similarly precise for bright bursts whose uncertainties are dominated by systematic errors, but RoboBA performs better for faint bursts whose uncertainties are dominated by statistical noise. We further find that the uncertainties in the positions predicted by RoboBA are consistent with the distribution of position errors, whereas BALROG seems to be underestimating the uncertainties by a factor of about 2. Additionally, we consider the implications of these results for the follow-up of the optical afterglows of Fermi/GBM bursts. In particular, for the DDOTI wide-field imager we conclude that a single pointing is best. Our sample would allow a similar study to be carried out for other telescopes.

Cascade Radiations of e ± from γγ-annihilation Process as an Extra Component of the Early Optical/X-Ray Afterglows of Gamma-Ray Bursts

Chromatic break and/or plateau observed in the early optical and X-ray afterglow lightcurves challenge the conventional external shock models of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Detection of TeV gamma-ray afterglows indicates strong gamma-ray production within the afterglow jets. We investigate the cascade radiations of the e ± production via the γ γ interaction in the jets. Our numerical calculations show that the cascade synchrotron emission can make a significant contribution to the early optical/X-ray afterglows. The combination of the primary and cascade emission fluxes can shape a chromatic break and/or plateau in the early optical/X-ray lightcurves, depending on the jet properties. Applying our model to GRBs 050801 and 080310, we found that their optical plateaus and the late X-ray/optical lightcurves can be explained with our model in reasonable parameter values. We suggest that such a chromatic optical plateau could be a signature of strong e ± production in GRB afterglow jets. The TeV gamma-ray flux of such GRBs should be significantly reduced and hence tends to be detectable for those GRBs that have a single power-law decaying optical afterglow lightcurve.

A Narrow Uniform Core with a Wide Structured Wing: Modeling the TeV and Multiwavelength Afterglows of GRB 221009A

The TeV afterglow of the BOAT GRB 221009A was interpreted as arising from a narrow jet, while the radio-to-X-ray afterglows were interpreted as arising from a wide structured jet. However, there is no model explaining the TeV and lower-energy multiwavelength afterglows simultaneously. We here investigate a two-component jet model, including a narrow uniform core with a wide structured wing, to explain both the multiwavelength afterglows that last up to 100 days. We find that to explain the early TeV afterglow with the inverse-Compton process, we need a circumburst density higher than ≳0.1 cm−3, while the radio afterglow and the H.E.S.S. upper limit combine to constrain the density to be lower at larger radii. Thus, a decreasing density profile with radius is favored. Considering that the rising TeV light curve during the afterglow onset favors a constant-density medium, we invoke a stratified density profile, including a constant-density profile at small radii and a wind density profile at large radii. We find that the two-component jet model with such a stratified density profile can explain the TeV, X-ray, and optical afterglows of GRB 221009A, although the radio fluxes exceed the observed ones by a factor of 2 at later epochs. The discrepancy in the radio afterglow could be resolved by invoking some nonstandard assumption about the microphysics of afterglow shocks. The total kinetic energy of the two components in our model is ≲1052 erg, significantly smaller than that in the single structured jet models.

Revealing the characteristics of the dark GRB 150309A: Dust extinguished or high-z?

Context. Dark gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) constitute a significant fraction of the GRB population. In this paper, we present a multi-wavelength analysis (both prompt emission and afterglow) of an intense (3.98 × 10−5 erg cm−2 using Fermi-Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor) two-episodic GRB 150309A observed early on until ∼114 days post burst. Despite the strong gamma-ray emission, no optical afterglow was detected for this burst. However, we discovered near-infrared (NIR) afterglow (KS-band), ∼5.2 h post burst, with the CIRCE instrument mounted at the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (hereafter, GTC). Aims. We aim to examine the characteristics of GRB 150309A as a dark burst and to constrain other properties using multi-wavelength observations. Methods. We used Fermi observations of GRB 150309A to understand the prompt emission mechanisms and jet composition. We performed early optical observations using the BOOTES robotic telescope and late-time afterglow observations using the GTC. A potential faint host galaxy was also detected in the optical wavelength using the GTC. We modelled the potential host galaxy of GRB 150309A in order to explore the environment of the burst. Results. The time-resolved spectral analysis of Fermi data indicates a hybrid jet composition consisting of a matter-dominated fireball and magnetic-dominated Poynting flux. The GTC observations of the afterglow revealed that the counterpart of GRB 150309A was very red, with H − KS &gt; 2.1 mag (95% confidence). The red counterpart was not discovered in any bluer filters of Swift UVOT/BOOTES, which would be indicative of a high redshift origin. Therefore we discarded this possibility based on multiple arguments, such as spectral analysis of the X-ray afterglow constrain z &lt; 4.15 and a moderate redshift value obtained using the spectral energy distribution (SED) modelling of the potential galaxy. The broadband (X-ray to NIR bands) afterglow SED implies a very dusty host galaxy with a deeply embedded GRB (suggesting AV ≳ 35 mag). Conclusions. The environment of GRB 150309A demands a high extinction towards the line of sight. Demanding dust obscuration is the most probable origin of optical darkness as well as the very red afterglow of GRB 150309A. This result establishes GRB 150309A as the most extinguished GRB known to date.

A Comprehensive Investigation of Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows Detected by TESS

Gamma-ray bursts produce afterglows that can be observed across the electromagnetic spectrum and can provide insight into the nature of their progenitors. While most telescopes that observe afterglows are designed to rapidly react to trigger information, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) continuously monitors sections of the sky at cadences between 30 minutes and 200 s. This provides TESS with the capability of serendipitously observing the optical afterglow of GRBs. We conduct the first extensive search for afterglows of known GRBs in archival TESS data reduced with the TESSreduce package, and detect 11 candidate signals that are temporally coincident with reported burst times. We classify three of these as high-likelihood GRB afterglows previously unknown to have been detected by TESS, one of which has no other afterglow detection reported on the Gamma-ray Coordinates Network. We classify five candidates as tentative and the remainder as unlikely. Using the afterglowpy package, we model each of the candidate light curves with a Gaussian and a top-hat model to estimate burst parameters; we find that a mean time delay of 740 ± 690 s between the explosion and afterglow onset is required to perform these fits. The high cadence and large field of view make TESS a powerful instrument for localising GRBs, with the potential to observe afterglows in cases when no other backup photometry is possible, and at timescales previously unreachable by optical telescopes.

Evidence for a Compact Stellar Merger Origin for GRB 230307A From Fermi-LAT and Multiwavelength Afterglow Observations

GRB 230307A is the second-brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever detected over 50 yr of observations and has a long duration in the prompt emission. Two galaxies are found to be close to the position of GRB 230307A: (1) a distant (z ∼ 3.87) star-forming galaxy, located at an offset of ∼0.″2–0.″3 from the GRB position (with a projected distance of ∼1–2 kpc); (2) a nearby (z = 0.065) spiral galaxy, located at an offset of 30″ (with a projected distance of ∼40 kpc). Though it has been found that the brightest GRBs are readily detected in GeV emission by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, we find no GeV afterglow emission from GRB 230307A. Combining this with the optical and X-ray afterglow data, we find that a circumburst density as low as ∼10−5–10−4 cm−3 is needed to explain the nondetection of GeV emission and the multiwavelength afterglow data, regardless of the redshift of this GRB. Such a low-density disfavors the association of GRB 230307A with the high-redshift star-forming galaxy, since the proximity of the GRB position to this galaxy would imply a higher-density environment. Instead, the low-density medium is consistent with the circumgalactic medium, which agrees with the large offset between GRB 230307A and the low-redshift galaxy. This points to the compact stellar merger origin for GRB 230307A, consistent with the detection of an associated kilonova.

Reverse shock emission in an off-axis top-hat jet model for gamma-ray bursts

ABSTRACT The afterglow of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) has been widely argued to arise from the interaction of a relativistic outflow with its ambient medium. During such an interaction, a pair of shocks are generated: a forward shock that propagates into the medium and a reverse shock that propagates into the outflow. Extensive studies have been conducted on the emission from the forward shock viewed off-axis. Furthermore, the observation of a reverse shock in an on-axis short GRB suggests that the reverse shock can produce an electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational wave-detected merger. In this paper, we investigate the contribution of the reverse shock to the afterglow from a top-hat jet viewed off-axis, and apply our model to some short GRBs previously modelled by an off-axis emission. We employ the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to get the model parameters (i.e. the jet’s half-opeaning angle θj, the viewing angle θobs, the initial Lorentz factor Γ0, and the isotropic energy Eiso). Our model successfully reproduces off-axis afterglow emission without a structured jet. In addition, our calculations suggest that the reverse shock may produce a prominent feature in an early afterglow, which can be potentially observed in an orphan optical afterglow.

GRB 230911A: The First Discovery of a Fermi GRB Optical Counterpart with the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO)

We report on the detection of candidate optical counterpart GOTO23akf/AT2023shv to the GRB 230911A with the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) instruments located at La Palma, Canary Islands, and Siding Spring Observatory, Australia. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor, which finds gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) nearly every two days, detected GRB 230911A with a statistical uncertainty of 4.°1. However, the large (∼10–100 deg2) localization areas mostly impede the rapid identification of an optical counterpart. GOTO facilities fully covered 90% localization area of the GRB 230911A. We proposed GOTO23akf as the optical afterglow of GRB 230911A, subsequently confirmed through Swift-X-Ray Telescope observations in which an uncatalogued X-ray source spatially coincident with the GOTO candidate was detected. This is the first optical afterglow discovery for a Fermi GRB with the newly expanded GOTO network.

Detectability of Fast Radio Burst Optical Counterparts with the Future Chinese Wide Field Telescopes

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are extra-galactic origin milli-second duration bright radio bursts. Theoretically, FRBs may produce optical counterparts with durations from milliseconds to hours. The FRB optical counterparts may be detectable in future large field telescopes, including the China Space Station Telescope (CSST), the 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST) lead by the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and the Purple Mountain Observatory (PMO), and the Earth 2.0 (ET). The fast radio burst optical counterparts are grouped into millisecond time-scale optical counterparts, hourly time-scale optical counterparts, and optical afterglow for our study. The first two can be generated by the high-energy extension of the radio radiation of fast radio bursts and the inverse Compton scattering of high-energy electrons. The event rates highly depend on the optical-to-radio flux ratio ην. For millisecond duration optical counterparts, the detection rate of WFST, CSST, and ET can reach hundreds per year in an ideal case. If ην∼10−3, the corresponding annual detection rates of WFST and CSST are in the order of 1, and the annual detection rate of ET is 19.5. For the hourly timescale optical counterparts, ideally, the age of the supernova remnant is 5 years, ην is about 10−6, and the annual detection rates are above 100. The X-ray counterpart of FRB 200428 indicates that FRBs may produce relativistic outflow, which will interact with the interstellar medium to produce optical afterglows. Combined with the standard afterglow model, the detectability of optical afterglow is explored with a simulation of fast radio bursts following the redshift and energy distribution from the literature. With a total energy-radio energy ratio similar to FRB 200428, (ζ=105), the estimated annual detection rates of CSST, WFST, and ET are 1.3, 1.0, and 67, respectively.

Recent Observations of Peculiar Gamma-Ray Bursts Using the 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT)

India has been actively involved in the follow-up observations of optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) for more than two decades, using the country’s meter-class facilities such as the 1.04m Sampurnanand Telescope, 1.3m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope, 2.01 m Himalayan Chandra Telescope along with many others in the country, utilizing the longitudinal advantage of the place. However, since 2016, Indian astronomers have embarked on a new era of exploration by utilizing the country’s largest optical telescope, the 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) at the Devasthal Observatory of ARIES Nainital. This unique telescope has opened up exciting opportunities for transient study. Starting from the installation itself, the DOT has been actively performing the target of opportunity (ToO) observations, leading to many interesting discoveries. Notable achievements include the contributions towards the discovery of long GRB 211211A arising from a binary merger, the discovery of the most delayed optical flare from GRB 210204A along with the very faint optical afterglow (fainter than 25 mag in g-band) of GRB 200412B. We also successfully observed the optical counterpart of the very-high-energy (VHE) detected burst GRB 201015A using DOT. Additionally, DOT has been used for follow-up observations of dark and orphan afterglows, along with the observations of host galaxies associated with peculiar GRBs. More recently, DOT’s near-IR follow-up capabilities helped us to detect the first near-IR counterpart (GRB 230409B) using an Indian telescope. In this work, we summarise the recent discoveries and observations of GRBs using the 3.6-m DOT, highlighting the significant contributions in revealing the mysteries of these cosmic transients.

Characterizing the Ordinary Broad-line Type Ic SN 2023pel from the Energetic GRB 230812B

We report observations of the optical counterpart of the long gamma-ray burst (GRB) GRB 230812B and its associated supernova (SN) SN 2023pel. The proximity (z = 0.36) and high energy (E γ,iso ∼ 1053 erg) make it an important event to study as a probe of the connection between massive star core collapse and relativistic jet formation. With a phenomenological power-law model for the optical afterglow, we find a late-time flattening consistent with the presence of an associated SN. SN 2023pel has an absolute peak r-band magnitude of M r = −19.46 ± 0.18 mag (about as bright as SN 1998bw) and evolves on quicker timescales. Using a radioactive heating model, we derive a nickel mass powering the SN of M Ni = 0.38 ± 0.01 M ⊙ and a peak bolometric luminosity of L bol ∼ 1.3 × 1043 erg s−1. We confirm SN 2023pel’s classification as a broad-line Type Ic SN with a spectrum taken 15.5 days after its peak in the r band and derive a photospheric expansion velocity of v ph = 11,300 ± 1600 km s−1 at that phase. Extrapolating this velocity to the time of maximum light, we derive the ejecta mass M ej = 1.0 ± 0.6 M ⊙ and kinetic energy EKE=1.3−1.2+3.3×1051erg . We find that GRB 230812B/SN 2023pel has SN properties that are mostly consistent with the overall GRB-SN population. The lack of correlations found in the GRB-SN population between SN brightness and E γ,iso for their associated GRBs across a broad range of 7 orders of magnitude provides further evidence that the central engine powering the relativistic ejecta is not coupled to the SN powering mechanism in GRB-SN systems.

GRB 080710: A narrow, structured jet showing a late, achromatic peak in the optical and infrared afterglow?

We present a possible theoretical interpretation of the observed afterglow emission of long gamma-ray burst GRB 080710. While its prompt GRB emission properties are normal, the afterglow light curves in the optical and infrared bands are exceptional in two respects. One is that the observed light curves of different wavelengths have maximum at the same time, and that the achromatic peak time, 2.2×103 s after the burst trigger, is about an order of magnitude later than typical events. The other is that the observed flux before the peak increases more slowly than theoretically expected so far. Assuming that the angular distribution of the outflow energy is top-hat or Gaussian-shaped, we calculate the observed light curves of the synchrotron emission from the relativistic jets and explore the model parameters that explain the observed data. It is found that a narrowly collimated Gaussian-shaped jet with large isotropic-equivalent energy is the most plausible model for reproducing the observed afterglow behavior. Namely, an off-axis afterglow scenario to the achromatic peak is unlikely. The inferred values of the opening angle and the isotropic equivalent energy of the jet are possibly similar to those of GRB 221009A, but the jet of GRB 080710 has a much smaller efficiency of the prompt gamma-ray emission. Our results indicate a greater diversity of the GRB jet properties than previously thought.

Optical and Near-infrared Observations of the Distant but Bright “New Year’s Burst” GRB 220101A

High-redshift gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are useful to probe the early Universe, but only a few candidates have been detected so far. Here, we report the optical and near-infrared observations of the afterglow of a relatively high-redshift event GRB 220101A, which was triggered on New Year’s Day of 2022, and therefore referred to as the “New Year’s burst.” With the optical spectra obtained by XL2.16/BFOSC and NOT/ALFOSC, we determine the redshift of the burst to be z = 4.615. We find that the optical afterglow of GRB 220101A is one of the most luminous ever detected. Based on our optical and near-infrared data, and combined with the X-ray observations, we perform a multiband fit with the Python package afterglowpy. The jet opening angle is constrained to ∼3.°4, which is consistent with the jet-break time at ∼0.7 day. We also determine the circumburst density of n 0 = 0.15 cm−3 and kinetic energy E K,iso = 3.5 × 1054 erg. In the prompt phase of the burst, we find a “mirror” feature in the lightcurve from 80 s to 120 s. The physical origin of such a mirror feature is unclear.

Polymeric ultralong organic phosphorescence with excellent humidity and temperature resistance via hydrophobic effect

AbstractPolymeric ultralong organic phosphorescence (UOP) with persistent emission is of great importance in practical applications. However, achieving good water‐resistance for long‐term environmental stability is a formidable challenge. In this contribution, through tailoring the alkyl‐chain length of the hardeners and emitters, polymeric UOPs with varying crosslinking density and hydrophobic effect were obtained. Notably, all the polymers show no obvious decrease in UOP emission after high temperature‐humidity test (85°C/85% relative humidity for 7 days). Detailed investigations demonstrate that the rigid covalent crosslinking networks suppress the quenching of triplet excitons while the hydrophobic microenvironment affords good water/moisture‐resistance ability. Moreover, the polymers with superior processability are successfully applied as optical coatings, prepreg, and afterglow displays. With this work, we provide a new strategy to promote the long‐term stability of polymeric UOP materials in high‐temperature‐humidity conditions.