Small-scale variations in the radiating surface of the GRB 011211 jet

Pall Jakobsson; Jens Hjorth; Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz; Chryssa Kouveliotou; Kristian Pedersen; Johan P.U. Fynbo; Javier Gorosabel; Darach Watson; Brian L. Jensen; Tommy Grav; Morten W. Hansen; Rene Michelsen; Michael I. Andersen; Michael Weidinger; Holger Pedersen

doi:10.1016/j.newast.2004.01.007

Small-scale variations in the radiating surface of the GRB 011211 jet

Pall Jakobsson
, Jens Hjorth
, Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz
, Chryssa Kouveliotou
, Kristian Pedersen
, Johan P.U. Fynbo
, Javier Gorosabel
, Darach Watson
, Brian L. Jensen
, Tommy Grav
, Morten W. Hansen
, Rene Michelsen
, Michael I. Andersen
, Michael Weidinger
, Holger Pedersen

Faculty of Physical Sciences

University of Iceland

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We report the discovery of the afterglow of the X-ray rich, long-duration γ-ray burst GRB 011211 and present evidence for oscillatory behaviour in its early optical light curve. The time-scale of the fluctuations, ∼1 h, is much smaller than the time of the observations, ∼12 h from the onset of the γ-ray burst. The character and strength of the fluctuations are unprecedented and are inconsistent with causally connected variations in the emission of a symmetric, relativistic blast wave, i.e. flux variations which are produced uniformly throughout the shell surface are ruled out. Therefore, the wiggles are the result of spherically asymmetric density or energy variations. Additionally, there is evidence for fluctuations in the X-ray afterglow light curve. If real, the resulting difference in the observed time of the peaks of the short-term variations at X-ray and optical frequencies, would demonstrate that the energy content across the jet-emitting surface is not uniform.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	435-442
Number of pages	8
Journal	New Astronomy
Volume	9
Issue number	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newast.2004.01.007
Publication status	Published - Jul 2004

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: It is a pleasure to thank Sir M. Rees, S.E. Woosley, G. Björnsson, E.H. Gudmundsson, A. Loeb, S.T. Holland and E. Nakar for helpful comments and suggestions. We are grateful to the anonymous referee for stimulating remarks which have improved the paper. Our results are based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. We acknowledge the availability of DSS-2 exposures used in this work. P.J. gratefully acknowledges support from The Icelandic Research Fund for Graduate Students, and a Special Grant from the Icelandic Research Council. E.R. thanks CONACyT and the ORS for sponsorship. J.P.U.F. and K.P. acknowledge support from the Carlsberg foundation. This work was supported by the Danish Natural Science Research Council (SNF). The authors acknowledge benefits from collaboration within the EU FP5 Research Training Network “Gamma-Ray Bursts: an Enigma and a Tool”.

Other keywords

Gamma rays: bursts
X-rays: general

Access to Document

10.1016/j.newast.2004.01.007

Cite this

Jakobsson, P., Hjorth, J., Ramirez-Ruiz, E., Kouveliotou, C., Pedersen, K., Fynbo, J. P. U., Gorosabel, J., Watson, D., Jensen, B. L., Grav, T., Hansen, M. W., Michelsen, R., Andersen, M. I., Weidinger, M., & Pedersen, H. (2004). Small-scale variations in the radiating surface of the GRB 011211 jet. New Astronomy, 9(6), 435-442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newast.2004.01.007

@article{18df1e174fce4c099215ff53bb431499,

title = "Small-scale variations in the radiating surface of the GRB 011211 jet",

abstract = "We report the discovery of the afterglow of the X-ray rich, long-duration γ-ray burst GRB 011211 and present evidence for oscillatory behaviour in its early optical light curve. The time-scale of the fluctuations, ∼1 h, is much smaller than the time of the observations, ∼12 h from the onset of the γ-ray burst. The character and strength of the fluctuations are unprecedented and are inconsistent with causally connected variations in the emission of a symmetric, relativistic blast wave, i.e. flux variations which are produced uniformly throughout the shell surface are ruled out. Therefore, the wiggles are the result of spherically asymmetric density or energy variations. Additionally, there is evidence for fluctuations in the X-ray afterglow light curve. If real, the resulting difference in the observed time of the peaks of the short-term variations at X-ray and optical frequencies, would demonstrate that the energy content across the jet-emitting surface is not uniform.",

keywords = "Gamma rays: bursts, X-rays: general",

author = "Pall Jakobsson and Jens Hjorth and Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz and Chryssa Kouveliotou and Kristian Pedersen and Fynbo, \{Johan P.U.\} and Javier Gorosabel and Darach Watson and Jensen, \{Brian L.\} and Tommy Grav and Hansen, \{Morten W.\} and Rene Michelsen and Andersen, \{Michael I.\} and Michael Weidinger and Holger Pedersen",

note = "Funding Information: It is a pleasure to thank Sir M. Rees, S.E. Woosley, G. Bj{\"o}rnsson, E.H. Gudmundsson, A. Loeb, S.T. Holland and E. Nakar for helpful comments and suggestions. We are grateful to the anonymous referee for stimulating remarks which have improved the paper. Our results are based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. We acknowledge the availability of DSS-2 exposures used in this work. P.J. gratefully acknowledges support from The Icelandic Research Fund for Graduate Students, and a Special Grant from the Icelandic Research Council. E.R. thanks CONACyT and the ORS for sponsorship. J.P.U.F. and K.P. acknowledge support from the Carlsberg foundation. This work was supported by the Danish Natural Science Research Council (SNF). The authors acknowledge benefits from collaboration within the EU FP5 Research Training Network “Gamma-Ray Bursts: an Enigma and a Tool”.",

year = "2004",

month = jul,

doi = "10.1016/j.newast.2004.01.007",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

pages = "435--442",

journal = "New Astronomy",

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T1 - Small-scale variations in the radiating surface of the GRB 011211 jet

AU - Jakobsson, Pall

AU - Hjorth, Jens

AU - Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico

AU - Kouveliotou, Chryssa

AU - Pedersen, Kristian

AU - Fynbo, Johan P.U.

AU - Gorosabel, Javier

AU - Watson, Darach

AU - Jensen, Brian L.

AU - Grav, Tommy

AU - Hansen, Morten W.

AU - Michelsen, Rene

AU - Andersen, Michael I.

AU - Weidinger, Michael

AU - Pedersen, Holger

N1 - Funding Information: It is a pleasure to thank Sir M. Rees, S.E. Woosley, G. Björnsson, E.H. Gudmundsson, A. Loeb, S.T. Holland and E. Nakar for helpful comments and suggestions. We are grateful to the anonymous referee for stimulating remarks which have improved the paper. Our results are based on observations made with the Nordic Optical Telescope, operated on the island of La Palma jointly by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. We acknowledge the availability of DSS-2 exposures used in this work. P.J. gratefully acknowledges support from The Icelandic Research Fund for Graduate Students, and a Special Grant from the Icelandic Research Council. E.R. thanks CONACyT and the ORS for sponsorship. J.P.U.F. and K.P. acknowledge support from the Carlsberg foundation. This work was supported by the Danish Natural Science Research Council (SNF). The authors acknowledge benefits from collaboration within the EU FP5 Research Training Network “Gamma-Ray Bursts: an Enigma and a Tool”.

PY - 2004/7

Y1 - 2004/7

N2 - We report the discovery of the afterglow of the X-ray rich, long-duration γ-ray burst GRB 011211 and present evidence for oscillatory behaviour in its early optical light curve. The time-scale of the fluctuations, ∼1 h, is much smaller than the time of the observations, ∼12 h from the onset of the γ-ray burst. The character and strength of the fluctuations are unprecedented and are inconsistent with causally connected variations in the emission of a symmetric, relativistic blast wave, i.e. flux variations which are produced uniformly throughout the shell surface are ruled out. Therefore, the wiggles are the result of spherically asymmetric density or energy variations. Additionally, there is evidence for fluctuations in the X-ray afterglow light curve. If real, the resulting difference in the observed time of the peaks of the short-term variations at X-ray and optical frequencies, would demonstrate that the energy content across the jet-emitting surface is not uniform.

AB - We report the discovery of the afterglow of the X-ray rich, long-duration γ-ray burst GRB 011211 and present evidence for oscillatory behaviour in its early optical light curve. The time-scale of the fluctuations, ∼1 h, is much smaller than the time of the observations, ∼12 h from the onset of the γ-ray burst. The character and strength of the fluctuations are unprecedented and are inconsistent with causally connected variations in the emission of a symmetric, relativistic blast wave, i.e. flux variations which are produced uniformly throughout the shell surface are ruled out. Therefore, the wiggles are the result of spherically asymmetric density or energy variations. Additionally, there is evidence for fluctuations in the X-ray afterglow light curve. If real, the resulting difference in the observed time of the peaks of the short-term variations at X-ray and optical frequencies, would demonstrate that the energy content across the jet-emitting surface is not uniform.

KW - Gamma rays: bursts

KW - X-rays: general

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/11144358327

U2 - 10.1016/j.newast.2004.01.007

DO - 10.1016/j.newast.2004.01.007

M3 - Article

SN - 1384-1076

VL - 9

SP - 435

EP - 442

JO - New Astronomy

JF - New Astronomy

IS - 6

ER -

Small-scale variations in the radiating surface of the GRB 011211 jet

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Other keywords

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