The Discovery of Vibrationally-Excited H_2 in the Molecular Cloud near GRB 080607

GRB 080607 has provided the first strong observational signatures of molecular absorption bands toward any galaxy hosting a gamma-ray burst. Despite the identification of dozens of features as belonging to various atomic and molecular (H_2 and CO) carriers, many more absorption features remained unidentified. Here we report on a search among these features for absorption from vibrationally-excited H_2, a species that was predicted to be produced by the UV flash of a GRB impinging on a molecular cloud. Following a detailed comparison between our spectroscopy and static, as well as dynamic, models of H_2* absorption, we conclude that a column density of 10^{17.5+-0.2} cm^{-2} of H_2* was produced along the line of sight toward GRB 080607. Depending on the assumed amount of dust extinction between the molecular cloud and the GRB, the model distance between the two is found to be in the range 230--940 pc. Such a range is consistent with a conservative lower limit of 100 pc estimated from the presence of Mg I in the same data. These distances show that substantial molecular material is found within hundreds of pc from GRB 080607, part of the distribution of clouds within the GRB host galaxy.Comment: Submitted to ApJL, 6 pages emulate

Discovery of a binary quasar

The paper reports the discovery of a pair of quasars with a redshift of 1.345, separated by 4.2 arcsec in projection, apparently associated with the radio source PKS 1145-071. The imaging CCD, spectroscopic, and radio observations are presented. The possibility that this pair is situated towards a high-redshift galaxy cluster is discussed

Gamma-ray Bursts, Classified Physically

From Galactic binary sources, to extragalactic magnetized neutron stars, to long-duration GRBs without associated supernovae, the types of sources we now believe capable of producing bursts of gamma-rays continues to grow apace. With this emergent diversity comes the recognition that the traditional (and newly formulated) high-energy observables used for identifying sub-classes does not provide an adequate one-to-one mapping to progenitors. The popular classification of some > 100 sec duration GRBs as ``short bursts'' is not only an unpalatable retronym and syntactically oxymoronic but highlights the difficultly of using what was once a purely phenomenological classification to encode our understanding of the physics that gives rise to the events. Here we propose a physically based classification scheme designed to coexist with the phenomenological system already in place and argue for its utility and necessity.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Slightly expanded version of solicited paper to be published in the Proceedings of ''Gamma Ray Bursts 2007,'' Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 5-9. Edited by E. E. Fenimore, M. Galassi, D. Palme

Discovery of the Very Red Near-Infrared and Optical Afterglow of the Short-Duration GRB 070724A

[Abridged] We report the discovery of the near-infrared and optical afterglow of the short-duration gamma-ray burst GRB070724A. The afterglow is detected in i,J,H,K observations starting 2.3 hr after the burst with K=19.59+/-0.16 mag and i=23.79+/-0.07 mag, but is absent in images obtained 1.3 years later. Fading is also detected in the K-band between 2.8 and 3.7 hr at a 4-sigma significance level. The optical/near-IR spectral index, beta_{O,NIR}=-2, is much redder than expected in the standard afterglow model, pointing to either significant dust extinction, A_{V,host}~2 mag, or a non-afterglow origin for the near-IR emission. The case for extinction is supported by a shallow optical to X-ray spectral index, consistent with the definition for ``dark bursts'', and a normal near-IR to X-ray spectral index. Moreover, a comparison to the optical discovery magnitudes of all short GRBs with optical afterglows indicates that the near-IR counterpart of GRB070724A is one of the brightest to date, while its observed optical emission is one of the faintest. In the context of a non-afterglow origin, the near-IR emission may be dominated by a mini-supernova, leading to an estimated ejected mass of M~10^-4 Msun and a radioactive energy release efficiency of f~0.005 (for v~0.3c). However, the mini-SN model predicts a spectral peak in the UV rather than near-IR, suggesting that this is either not the correct interpretation or that the mini-SN models need to be revised. Finally, the afterglow coincides with a star forming galaxy at z=0.457, previously identified as the host based on its coincidence with the X-ray afterglow position (~2" radius). Our discovery of the optical/near-IR afterglow makes this association secure.Comment: Submitted to ApJ; 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

The Effect of w−termw-term on Visibility Correlation and Power Spectrum Estimation

Visibility-visibility correlation has been proposed as a technique for the estimation of power spectrum, and used extensively for small field of view observations, where the effect of $w-term$ is usually ignored. We consider power spectrum estimation from the large field of view observations, where the $w-term$ can have a significant effect. Our investigation shows that a nonzero $w$ manifests itself as a modification of the primary aperture function of the instrument. Using a gaussian primary beam, we show that the modified aperture is an oscillating function with a gaussian envelope. We show that the two visibility correlation reproduces the power spectrum beyond a certain baseline given by the width, $U_{w}$ of the modified aperture. Further, for a given interferometer, the maximum $U_{w}$ remains independent of the frequencies of observation. This suggests that, the incorporation of large field of view in radio interferometric observation has a greater effect for larger observing wavelengths.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

HST optical spectral index map of the jet of 3C 273

We present HST images at 622 nm and 300 nm of the jet in 3C273 and determine the run of the optical spectral index at 0.2" along the jet. The smoothness of spectral index changes shows that the physical conditions are varying smoothly across the jet. There is no correlation between the optical flux and spectral index, as would be expected for relativistic electrons suffering strong cooling due to synchrotron emission. We find no evidence for localized acceleration or loss sites. This suggests that the spectral shape is not changing much throughout the jet. We show that relativistic beaming and/or sub-equipartition magnetic fields cannot remove the discrepancy between light-travel time along the jet and the lifetime of electrons emitting optical synchrotron radiation. We consider this further evidence in favour of a distributed electron acceleration process.Comment: Accepted for publication by Astronomy and Astrophysics (13 pages, 8 figures