A flash in the dark: UVES/VLT high resolution spectroscopy of GRB afterglows

F. Fiore; V. D'Elia; D. Lazzati; R. Perna; L. Sbordone; G. Stratta; E. J. A. Meurs; P. Ward; L. A. Antonelli; G. Chincarini; S. Covino; A. Di Paola; A. Fontana; G. Ghisellini; G. Israel; F. Frontera; G. Marconi; L. Stella; M. Vietri; F. Zerbi

doi:10.1086/429385

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A flash in the dark: UVES/VLT high resolution spectroscopy of GRB afterglows

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Abstract

We present the first high resolution (R=20000--45000, corresponding to 14 km/s at 4200A to 6.6 km/s at 9000A) observations of the optical afterglow of Gamma Ray Bursts. GRB020813 and GRB021004 were observed by UVES@VLT 22.19 hours and 13.52 hours after the trigger, respectively. These spectra show that the inter--stellar matter of the GRB host galaxies is complex, with many components contributing to each main absorption system, and spanning a total velocity range of up to about 3000 km/s. Several narrow components are resolved down to a width of a few tens of km/s. In the case of GRB021004 we detected both low and high ionization lines. Combined with photoionization results obtained with CLOUDY, the ionization parameters of the various systems are consistent with a remarkably narrow range with no clear trend with system velocity. This can be interpreted as due to density fluctuations on top of a regular R^-2 wind density profile.

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F. Fiore, V. D'Elia, D. Lazzati, R. Perna, L. Sbordone, G. Stratta, E. J. A. Meurs, P. Ward, L. A. Antonelli, G. Chincarini, S. Covino, A. Di Paola, A. Fontana, G. Ghisellini, G. Israel, F. Frontera, G. Marconi, L. Stella, M. Vietri, F. Zerbi. 2005-02-14. A flash in the dark: UVES/VLT high resolution spectroscopy of GRB afterglows. https://doi.org/10.1086/429385

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