Abstract
Context. GRB 221009A, initially detected as an X-ray transient by Swift, was later revealed to have triggered the Fermi satellite about an hour earlier, marking it as a post-peak observation of the event's emission. This GRB distinguished itself as the brightest ever recorded, presenting an unparalleled opportunity to probe the complexities of GRB physics. The unprecedented brightness, however, challenged observation efforts, as it led to the saturation of several high-energy instruments. Aims. Our study seeks to investigate the nature of the INTEGRAL-detected GRB 221009A and elucidate the environmental conditions conducive to these exceptionally powerful bursts. Moreover, we aim to understand the fundamental physics illuminated by the detection of teraelectronvolt (TeV) photons emitted by GRB 221009A. Methods. We conducted detailed analyses of early photometric and spectroscopic observations that span from the Fermi trigger through to the initial days following the prompt emission phase in order to characterize GRB 221009A's afterglow, and we complemented these analyses with a comparative study. Results. Our findings from analyzing INTEGRAL data confirm GRB 221009A as the most energetic event observed to date. Early optical observations during the prompt phase negate the presence of bright optical emissions with internal or external shock origins. Spectroscopic analyses enabled us to measure GRB 221009A's distance and line-of-sight properties. The afterglow's temporal and spectral analysis suggests prolonged activity of the central engine and a transition in the circumburst medium's density. Finally, we discuss the implications for fundamental physics of detecting photons as energetic as 18 TeV from GRB 221009A. Conclusions. Early optical observations have proven invaluable for distinguishing between the potential origins of optical emissions in GRB 221009A, underscoring their utility in GRB physics studies. However, the rarity of such data underscores the need for dedicated telescopes capable of synchronous multiwavelength observations. Additionally, our analysis suggests that the host galaxies of TeV GRBs share commonalities with those of long and short GRBs. Expanding the sample of TeV GRBs could further solidify these findings.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | A3 |
| Journal | Astronomy and Astrophysics |
| Volume | 692 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1 2024 |
Funding
RSR acknowledges support under the CSIC-MURALES project with reference 20215AT009. RSR, YDH, MCG, SG, IPG, EJFG, RGB, MPV, and AJCT acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry project PID2020-118491GB-I00 and from the Severo Ochoa grant CEX2021- 001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033. Y-DH acknowledges support under the additional funding from the RYC2019-026465-I. MCG acknowledges support from the Ram n y Cajal Fellowship RYC2019-026465- I. BBZ acknowledges support by the National Key Research and Development Programs of China (2018YFA0404204, 2022SKA0130102, 2022YFF0711404), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11833003, U2038105, 12121003), the science research grants from the China Manned Space Project with NO.CMS-CSST-2021-B11 and the Program for Innovative Talents, Entrepreneur in Jiangsu. MM acknowledges support from FAPERJ and CNPq. The work of FN, is supported by NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. AP, SB, IC, SG, PM, NP, AV acknowledge support of Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation grant 075-15-2022-1221 (2022-BRICS-8847-2335). Observations with the SAO RAS telescopes are supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The renovation of telescope equipment is currently provided within the national project \"Science and Universities\". BTA observations were made under the ToO program (PI Pozanenko) under the quota of the Time Allocation Committee of Russian Telescopes. OAB thanks the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and innovation of the Republic of Uzbekistan for financial support, project no. IL-5421101855. CRB acknowledges the financial support from CNPq (316072/2021-4) and from FAPERJ (grants 201.456/2022 and 210.330/2022) and the FINEP contract 01.22.0505.00 (ref. 1891/22). Visiting Astronomer at the Infrared Telescope Facility, which is operated by the University of Hawaii under contract 80HQTR19D0030 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Based in part on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Minist rio da Ci ncia, Tecnologia e Inova es (MCTI/LNA) do Brasil, the US National Science Foundation's NOIRLab, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU). SBP, RG, AKR, and AA acknowledge support from DST grant no. DST/ICD/BRICS/Call-5/CoNMuTraMO/2023(G) for the present work. RG was sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through a contract with ORAU. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the oficial policies, either expressed or implied, of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. This work was initiated with the support of the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute and the Academy of Finland project no. 325806 (PlanetS). The program of development within Priority-2030 is acknowledged for supporting the research at UrFU. RSR acknowledges support under the CSIC-MURALES project with reference 20215AT009. RSR, YDH, MCG, SG, IPG, EJFG, RGB, MPV, and AJCT acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry project PID2020-118491GB-I00 and from the Severo Ochoa grant CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033. Y-DH acknowledges support under the additional funding from the RYC2019-026465-I. MCG acknowledges support from the Ram\u00F3n y Cajal Fellowship RYC2019-026465-I. BBZ acknowledges support by the National Key Research and Development Programs of China (2018YFA0404204, 2022SKA0130102, 2022YFF0711404), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11833003, U2038105, 12121003), the science research grants from the China Manned Space Project with NO.CMS-CSST-2021-B11 and the Program for Innovative Talents, Entrepreneur in Jiangsu. MM acknowledges support from FAPERJ and CNPq. The work of FN, is supported by NOIRLab, which is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. AP, SB, IC, SG, PM, NP, AV acknowledge support of Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation grant 075-15-2022-1221 (2022-BRICS-8847-2335). Observations with the SAO RAS telescopes are supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The renovation of telescope equipment is currently provided within the national project \u201CScience and Universities\u201D. BTA observations were made under the ToO program (PI Pozanenko) under the quota of the Time Allocation Committee of Russian Telescopes. OAB thanks the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and innovation of the Republic of Uzbekistan for financial support, project no. IL-5421101855. CRB acknowledges the financial support from CNPq (316072/2021-4) and from FAPERJ (grants 201.456/2022 and 210.330/2022) and the FINEP contract 01.22.0505.00 (ref. 1891/22). Visiting Astronomer at the Infrared Telescope Facility, which is operated by the University of Hawaii under contract 80HQTR19D0030 with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Based in part on observations obtained at the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) telescope, which is a joint project of the Minist\u00E9rio da Ci\u00EAncia, Tecnologia e Inova\u00E7\u00F5es (MCTI/LNA) do Brasil, the US National Science Foundation\u2019s NOIRLab, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and Michigan State University (MSU). SBP, RG, AKR, and AA acknowledge support from DST grant no. DST/ICD/BRICS/Call-5/CoNMuTraMO/2023(G) for the present work. RG was sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through a contract with ORAU. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. This work was initiated with the support of the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute and the Academy of Finland project no. 325806 (PlanetS). The program of development within Priority-2030 is acknowledged for supporting the research at UrFU.
Keywords
- Gamma-ray burst: general
- Gamma-ray burst: individual: GRB 221009A
- Techniques: photometric
- Techniques: spectroscopic
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science