A short γ-ray burst apparently associated with an elliptical galaxy at redshift z = 0.225.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	A short γ-ray burst apparently associated with an elliptical galaxy at redshift z = 0.225.
Authors:	Gehrels, N., Sarazin, C. L., O'Brien, P. T., Zhang, B., Barbier, L., Barthelmy, S. D., Blustin, A., Burrows, D. N., Cannizzo, J., Cummings, J. R., Goad, M., Holland, S. T., Hurkett, C. P., Kennea, J. A., Levan, A., Markwardt, C. B., Mason, K. O., Meszaros, P., Page, M., Palmer, D. M.
Source:	Nature. 10/6/2005, Vol. 437 Issue 7060, p851-854. 4p. 1 Color Photograph, 2 Graphs.
Subjects:	Gamma ray bursts, Spectrum analysis, Stars, X-rays, Elliptical galaxies, Neutrons
Abstract:	Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) come in two classes: long (> 2 s), soft-spectrum bursts and short, hard events. Most progress has been made on understanding the long GRBs, which are typically observed at high redshift (z ≈ 1) and found in subluminous star-forming host galaxies. They are likely to be produced in core-collapse explosions of massive stars. In contrast, no short GRB had been accurately (< 10″) and rapidly (minutes) located. Here we report the detection of the X-ray afterglow from—and the localization of—the short burst GRB 050509B. Its position on the sky is near a luminous, non-star-forming elliptical galaxy at a redshift of 0.225, which is the location one would expect if the origin of this GRB is through the merger of neutron-star or black-hole binaries. The X-ray afterglow was weak and faded below the detection limit within a few hours; no optical afterglow was detected to stringent limits, explaining the past difficulty in localizing short GRBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database:	Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection

Description
Abstract:	Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) come in two classes: long (> 2 s), soft-spectrum bursts and short, hard events. Most progress has been made on understanding the long GRBs, which are typically observed at high redshift (z ≈ 1) and found in subluminous star-forming host galaxies. They are likely to be produced in core-collapse explosions of massive stars. In contrast, no short GRB had been accurately (< 10″) and rapidly (minutes) located. Here we report the detection of the X-ray afterglow from—and the localization of—the short burst GRB 050509B. Its position on the sky is near a luminous, non-star-forming elliptical galaxy at a redshift of 0.225, which is the location one would expect if the origin of this GRB is through the merger of neutron-star or black-hole binaries. The X-ray afterglow was weak and faded below the detection limit within a few hours; no optical afterglow was detected to stringent limits, explaining the past difficulty in localizing short GRBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	00280836
DOI:	10.1038/nature04142