The Wide-Angle Outflow of SGRB 210726A

Project: Research project

Project Details

Description

The distribution of jet angles for short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) is critical to constrain as it directly affects the true energy scale and event rate. The event rate is of particular interest in the gravitational wave era. Our current knowledge of the jet angle distribution comes almost exclusively from X-ray observations at >1 day after the burst. Here, we propose for a Chandra TOO observation to continue to monitor the afterglow of SGRB 210726A and constrain its collimation, either from the detection of the X-ray afterglow, which places a lower limit on the opening angle at >35 deg, or a non-detection of the afterglow, indicating a jet break has occurred and constraining the jet break to 13-35 deg. We have broad-band afterglow observations, which will be leveraged to provide the tightest constraints on the jet angle. This would be the first detection of a cosmological SGRB afterglow at >50 days, complementing the longest lasting detections of an SGRB radio afterglow.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date4/26/224/25/23

Funding

  • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (DD1-22131X // NAS8-03060)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (DD1-22131X // NAS8-03060)

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