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D. A. Kann

Publications and source records attributed to D. A. Kann.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

A long optical plateau in the afterglow of the Extended Emission short GRB 150424A: Evidence for energy injection by a magnetar?

Short-duration GRBs with extended emission form a subclass of short GRBs, comprising about 15% of the short-duration sample. Afterglow detections of short GRBs are also rare (about 30%) due to their smaller luminosity. We present a multi-band data set of the short burst with extended emission GRB 150424A, comprising of GROND observations, complemented with data from Swift/UVOT, Swift/XRT, HST, Keck/LRIS and data points from the literature. The GRB 150424A afterglow shows an extended plateau phase, lasting about 8hrs. The analysis of this unique GRB afterglow might shed light on the understanding of afterglow plateau emission, the nature of which is still under debate. We present a phenomenological analysis by applying fireball closure relations, and interpret the findings in the context of the fireball model. We discuss the plausibility of a magnetar as a central engine, being responsible for additional and prolonged energy injection into the fireball. We find convincing evidence for energy injection into the afterglow of GRB 150424A. We find that a magnetar spin down as source for a prolonged energy injection requires that at least 4% of the spin-down energy is converted to radiation.

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GRB 161219B / SN 2016jca: A low-redshift gamma-ray burst supernova powered by radioactive heating

Since the first discovery of a broad-lined type Ic supernova (SN) with a long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) in 1998, fewer than fifty gamma-ray burst supernovae (GRB-SNe) have been discovered. The intermediate-luminosity Swift GRB 161219B and its associated supernova SN 2016jca, which occurred at a redshift of z=0.1475, represents only the seventh GRB-SN to have been discovered within 1 Gpc, and hence provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the observational and physical properties of these very elusive and rare type of SN. As such, we present optical to near-infrared photometry and optical spectroscopy of GRB 161219B and SN 2016jca, spanning the first three months since its discovery. GRB 161219B exploded in the disk of an edge-on spiral galaxy at a projected distance of 3.4 kpc from the galactic centre. GRB 161219B itself is an outlier of the Amati relation, while SN 2016jca had a rest-frame, peak absolute V-band magnitude of M_V = -19.0, which it reached after 12.5 rest-frame days. We find that the bolometric properties of SN 2016jca are inconsistent with being powered solely by a magnetar central engine, as proposed by other authors, and demonstrate that it was likely powered exclusively by energy deposited by the radioactive decay of nickel and cobalt into their daughter products, which were nucleosynthesized when its progenitor underwent core collapse. We find that 0.22 solar masses of nickel is required to reproduce the peak luminosity of SN 2016jca, and we constrain an ejecta mass of 5.8 solar masses and a kinetic energy of ~5 x 10^52 erg. Finally, we report on a chromatic, pre-maximum bump in the g-band light curve, and discuss its possible origin. [Abridged]

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The properties of GRB 120923A at a spectroscopic redshift of z=7.8

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are powerful probes of early stars and galaxies, during and potentially even before the era of reionization. Although the number of GRBs identified at z>6 remains small, they provide a unique window on typical star-forming galaxies at that time, and thus are complementary to deep field observations. We report the identification of the optical drop-out afterglow of Swift GRB 120923A in near-infrared Gemini-North imaging, and derive a redshift of z=7.84_{-0.12}^{+0.06} from VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy. At this redshift the peak 15-150 keV luminosity of the burst was 3.2x10^52 erg/s, and in fact the burst was close to the Swift/BAT detection threshold. The X-ray and near-infrared afterglow were also faint, and in this sense it was a rather typical long-duration GRB in terms of rest-frame luminosity. We present ground- and space-based follow-up observations spanning from X-ray to radio, and find that a standard external shock model with a constant-density circumburst environment with density, n~4x10^-2 cm^-3 gives a good fit to the data. The near-infrared light curve exhibits a sharp break at t~3.4 days in the observer frame, which if interpreted as being due to a jet corresponds to an opening angle of ~5 degrees. The beaming corrected gamma-ray energy is then E_gamma~2x10^50 erg, while the beaming-corrected kinetic energy is lower, E_K~10^49 erg, suggesting that GRB 120923A was a comparatively low kinetic energy event. We discuss the implications of this event for our understanding of the high-redshift population of GRBs and their identification.

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A New, Faint Population of X-ray Transients

We report on the detection of a remarkable new fast high-energy transient found in the Chandra Deep Field-South, robustly associated with a faint ($m_{\rm R}=27.5$ mag, $z_{\rm ph}$$\sim$2.2) host in the CANDELS survey. The X-ray event is comprised of 115$^{+12}_{-11}$ net 0.3-7.0 keV counts, with a light curve characterised by a $\approx$100 s rise time, a peak 0.3-10 keV flux of $\approx$5$\times$10$^{-12}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$, and a power-law decay time slope of $-1.53\pm0.27$. The average spectral slope is $Γ=1.43^{+0.23}_{-0.13}$, with no clear spectral variations. The \hbox{X-ray} and multi-wavelength properties effectively rule out the vast majority of previously observed high-energy transients. A few theoretical possibilities remain: an "orphan" X-ray afterglow from an off-axis short-duration Gamma-ray Burst (GRB) with weak optical emission; a low-luminosity GRB at high redshift with no prompt emission below $\sim$20 keV rest-frame; or a highly beamed Tidal Disruption Event (TDE) involving an intermediate-mass black hole and a white dwarf with little variability. However, none of the above scenarios can completely explain all observed properties. Although large uncertainties exist, the implied rate of such events is comparable to those of orphan and low-luminosity GRBs as well as rare TDEs, implying the discovery of an untapped regime for a known transient class, or a new type of variable phenomena whose nature remains to be determined.

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GRB 110715A: The peculiar multiwavelength evolution of the first afterglow detected by ALMA

We present the extensive follow-up campaign on the afterglow of GRB 110715A at 17 different wavelengths, from X-ray to radio bands, starting 81 seconds after the burst and extending up to 74 days later. We performed for the first time a GRB afterglow observation with the ALMA observatory. We find that the afterglow of GRB 110715A is very bright at optical and radio wavelengths. We use optical and near infrared spectroscopy to provide further information about the progenitor's environment and its host galaxy. The spectrum shows weak absorption features at a redshift z = 0.8225, which reveal a host galaxy environment with low ionization, column density and dynamical activity. Late deep imaging shows a very faint galaxy, consistent with the spectroscopic results. The broadband afterglow emission is modelled with synchrotron radiation using a numerical algorithm and we determine the best fit parameters using Bayesian inference in order to constrain the physical parameters of the jet and the medium in which the relativistic shock propagates. We fitted our data with a variety of models, including different density profiles and energy injections. Although the general behaviour can be roughly described by these models, none of them are able to fully explain all data points simultaneously. GRB 110715A shows the complexity of reproducing extensive multi-wavelength broadband afterglow observations, and the need of good sampling in wavelength and time and more complex models to accurately constrain the physics of GRB afterglows.

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Evidence for the magnetar nature of 1E 161348-5055 in RCW 103

We report on the detection of a bright, short, structured X-ray burst coming from the supernova remnant RCW 103 on 2016 June 22 caught by the Swift/BAT monitor, and on the follow-up campaign made with Swift/XRT, Swift/UVOT and the optical/NIR GROND detector. The characteristics of this flash, such as duration, and spectral shape, are consistent with typical short bursts observed from soft gamma repeaters. The BAT error circle at 68 per cent confidence range encloses the point-like X-ray source at the centre of the nebula, 1E161348-5055. Its nature has been long debated due to a periodicity of 6.67 hr in X-rays, which could indicate either an extremely slow pulsating neutron star, or the orbital period of a very compact X-ray binary system. We found that 20 min before the BAT trigger, the soft X-ray emission of 1E161348-5055 was a factor of ~100 higher than measured 2 yr earlier, indicating that an outburst had already started. By comparing the spectral and timing characteristics of the source in the two years before the outburst and after the BAT event, we find that, besides a change in luminosity and spectral shape, also the 6.67 hr pulsed profile has significantly changed with a clear phase shift with respect to its low-flux profile. The UV/optical/NIR observations did not reveal any counterpart at the position of 1E161348-5055. Based on these findings, we associate the BAT burst with 1E161348-5055, we classify it as a magnetar, and pinpoint the 6.67 hr periodicity as the magnetar spin period.

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The 80 Ms follow-up of the X-ray afterglow of GRB 130427A challenges the standard forward shock model

GRB 130427A was the brightest gamma-ray burst detected in the last 30 years. With an equivalent isotropic energy output of $8.5\times10^{53}$ erg and redshift $z=0.34$, it uniquely combined very high energetics with a relative proximity to Earth. As a consequence, its X-ray afterglow has been detected by sensitive X-ray observatories such as XMM-Newton and Chandra for a record-breaking baseline longer than 80 million seconds. We present the X-ray light-curve of this event over such an interval. The light-curve shows a simple power-law decay with a slope $α= 1.309 \pm 0.007$ over more than three decades in time (47 ks - 83 Ms). We discuss the consequences of this result for a few models proposed so far to interpret GRB 130427A, and more in general the significance of this outcome in the context of the standard forward shock model. We find that this model has difficulty in explaining our data, in both cases of constant density and stellar wind circumburst media, and requires far-fetched values for the physical parameters involved.

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Microphysics and dynamics of the Gamma-Ray Burst 121024A

Aims. The aim of the study is to constrain the physics of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) by analysing the multi-wavelength afterglow data set of GRB 121024A that covers the full range from radio to X-rays. Methods. Using multi-epoch broad-band observations of the GRB 121024A afterglow, we measured the three characteristic break frequencies of the synchrotron spectrum. We used six epochs of combined XRT and GROND data to constrain the temporal slopes, the dust extinction, the X-ray absorption, and the spectral slope with high accuracy. Two more epochs of combined data from XRT, GROND, APEX, CARMA, and EVLA were used to set constraints on the break frequencies and therefore on the micro-physical and dynamical parameters. Results. The XRT and GROND light curves show a simultaneous and achromatic break at around 49 ks. As a result, the crossing of the synchrotron cooling break is no suitable explanation for the break in the light curve. The multi wavelength data allow us to test two plausible scenarios explaining the break: a jet break, and the end of energy injection. The jet-break scenario requires a hard electron spectrum, a very low cooling break frequency, and a non-spreading jet. The energy injection avoids these problems, but requires $ε_e > 1 (k = 2)$, spherical outflow, and $ε_B < 10^{-9}$. Conclusions. In light of the extreme microphysical parameters required by the energy-injection model, we favour a jet-break scenario where $ν_m < ν_{sa}$ to explain the observations. This scenario gives physically meaningful microphysical parameters, and it also naturally explains the reported detection of linear and circular polarisation.

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Spectrum formation in Superluminous Supernovae (Type I)

The near-maximum spectra of most superluminous supernovae that are not dominated by interaction with a H-rich CSM (SLSN-I) are characterised by a blue spectral peak and a series of absorption lines which have been identified as OII. SN2011kl, associated with the ultra-long gamma-ray burst GRB111209A, also had a blue peak but a featureless optical/UV spectrum. Radiation transport methods are used to show that the spectra (not including SN2007bi, which has a redder spectrum at peak, like ordinary SNe Ic) can be explained by a rather steep density distribution of the ejecta, whose composition appears to be typical of carbon-oxygen cores of massive stars which can have low metal content. If the photospheric velocity is ~10000-15000 km/s, several lines form in the UV. OII lines, however, arise from very highly excited lower levels, which require significant departures from Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium to be populated. These SLSNe are not thought to be powered primarily by 56Ni decay. An appealing scenario is that they are energised by X-rays from the shock driven by a magnetar wind into the SN ejecta. The apparent lack of evolution of line velocity with time that characterises SLSNe up to about maximum is another argument in favour of the magnetar scenario. The smooth UV continuum of SN2011kl requires higher ejecta velocities (~20000 km/s): line blanketing leads to an almost featureless spectrum. Helium is observed in some SLSNe after maximum. The high ionization near maximum implies that both He and H may be present but not observed at early times. The spectroscopic classification of SLSNe should probably reflect that of SNe Ib/c. Extensive time coverage is required for an accurate classification.

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The optical identifcation of events with poorly defined locations: The case of the Fermi GBM GRB140801A

We report the early discovery of the optical afterglow of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 140801A in the 137 deg$^2$ 3-$σ$ error-box of the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). MASTER is the only observatory that automatically react to all Fermi alerts. GRB 140801A is one of the few GRBs whose optical counterpart was discovered solely from its GBM localization. The optical afterglow of GRB 140801A was found by MASTER Global Robotic Net 53 sec after receiving the alert, making it the fastest optical detection of a GRB from a GBM error-box. Spectroscopy obtained with the 10.4-m Gran Telescopio Canarias and the 6-m BTA of SAO RAS reveals a redshift of $z=1.32$. We performed optical and near-infrared photometry of GRB 140801A using different telescopes with apertures ranging from 0.4-m to 10.4-m. GRB 140801A is a typical burst in many ways. The rest-frame bolometric isotropic energy release and peak energy of the burst is $E_\mathrm{iso} = 5.54_{-0.24}^{+0.26} \times 10^{52}$ erg and $E_\mathrm{p, rest}\simeq280$ keV, respectively, which is consistent with the Amati relation. The absence of a jet break in the optical light curve provides a lower limit on the half-opening angle of the jet $θ=6.1$ deg. The observed $E_\mathrm{peak}$ is consistent with the limit derived from the Ghirlanda relation. The joint Fermi GBM and Konus-Wind analysis shows that GRB 140801A could belong to the class of intermediate duration. The rapid detection of the optical counterpart of GRB 140801A is especially important regarding the upcoming experiments with large coordinate error-box areas.

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The central engine of GRB 130831A and the energy breakdown of a relativistic explosion

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous explosions in the universe, yet the nature and physical properties of their energy sources are far from understood. Very important clues, however, can be inferred by studying the afterglows of these events. We present optical and X-ray observations of GRB 130831A obtained by Swift, Chandra, Skynet, RATIR, Maidanak, ISON, NOT, LT and GTC. This burst shows a steep drop in the X-ray light-curve at $\simeq 10^5$ s after the trigger, with a power-law decay index of $α\sim 6$. Such a rare behaviour cannot be explained by the standard forward shock (FS) model and indicates that the emission, up to the fast decay at $10^5$ s, must be of "internal origin", produced by a dissipation process within an ultrarelativistic outflow. We propose that the source of such an outflow, which must produce the X-ray flux for $\simeq 1$ day in the cosmological rest frame, is a newly born magnetar or black hole. After the drop, the faint X-ray afterglow continues with a much shallower decay. The optical emission, on the other hand, shows no break across the X-ray steep decrease, and the late-time decays of both the X-ray and optical are consistent. Using both the X-ray and optical data, we show that the emission after $\simeq 10^5$ s can be explained well by the FS model. We model our data to derive the kinetic energy of the ejecta and thus measure the efficiency of the central engine of a GRB with emission of internal origin visible for a long time. Furthermore, we break down the energy budget of this GRB into the prompt emission, the late internal dissipation, the kinetic energy of the relativistic ejecta, and compare it with the energy of the associated supernova, SN 2013fu.

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GRB hosts through cosmic time - VLT/X-Shooter emission-line spectroscopy of 96 GRB-selected galaxies at 0.1 < z < 3.6

[Abridged] We present data and initial results from VLT/X-Shooter emission-line spectroscopy of 96 GRB-selected galaxies at 0.1<z<3.6, the largest sample of GRB host spectroscopy available to date. Most of our GRBs were detected by Swift and 76% are at 0.5<z<2.5 with a median z~1.6. Based on Balmer and/or forbidden lines of oxygen, nitrogen, and neon, we measure systemic redshifts, star formation rates (SFRs), visual attenuations, oxygen abundances (12+log(O/H)), and emission-line widths. We find a strong change of the typical physical properties of GRB hosts with redshift. The median SFR, for example, increases from ~0.6 M_sun/yr at z~0.6 up to ~15 M_sun/yr at z~2. A higher ratio of [OIII]/[OII] at higher redshifts leads to an increasing distance of GRB-selected galaxies to the locus of local galaxies in the BPT diagram. Oxygen abundances of the galaxies are distributed between 12+log(O/H)=7.9 and 12+log(O/H)=9.0 with a median of 12+log(O/H)~8.5. The fraction of GRB-selected galaxies with super-solar metallicities is around 20% at z<1 in the adopted metallicity scale. This is significantly less than the fraction of star formation in similar galaxies, illustrating that GRBs are scarce in high-metallicity environments. At z~3, sensitivity limits us to probing only the most luminous GRB hosts for which we derive metallicities of Z ~< 0.5 Z_sun. Together with a high incidence of galaxies with similar metallicity in our sample at z~1.5, this indicates that the metallicity dependence observed at low redshift will not be dominant at z~3.

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Total eclipse of the heart: The AM CVn Gaia14aae / ASSASN-14cn

We report the discovery and characterisation of a deeply eclipsing AM CVn-system, Gaia14aae (= ASSASN-14cn). Gaia14aae was identified independently by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN; Shappee et al. 2014) and by the Gaia Science Alerts project, during two separate outbursts. A third outburst is seen in archival Pan-STARRS-1 (PS1; Schlafly et al. 2012; Tonry et al. 2012; Magnier et al. 2013) and ASAS-SN data. Spectroscopy reveals a hot, hydrogen-deficient spectrum with clear double-peaked emission lines, consistent with an accreting double degenerate classification. We use follow-up photometry to constrain the orbital parameters of the system. We find an orbital period of 49.71 min, which places Gaia14aae at the long period extremum of the outbursting AM CVn period distribution. Gaia14aae is dominated by the light from its accreting white dwarf. Assuming an orbital inclination of 90 degrees for the binary system, the contact phases of the white dwarf lead to lower limits of 0.78 M solar and 0.015 M solar on the masses of the accretor and donor respectively and a lower limit on the mass ratio of 0.019. Gaia14aae is only the third eclipsing AM CVn star known, and the first in which the WD is totally eclipsed. Using a helium WD model, we estimate the accretor's effective temperature to be 12900+-200 K. The three out-burst events occurred within 4 months of each other, while no other outburst activity is seen in the previous 8 years of Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS; Drake et al. 2009), Pan-STARRS-1 and ASAS-SN data. This suggests that these events might be rebrightenings of the first outburst rather than individual events.

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Super-solar metallicity at the position of the ultra-long GRB130925A

Over the last decade there has been immense progress in the follow-up of short and long GRBs, resulting in a significant rise in the detection rate of X-ray and optical afterglows, in the determination of GRB redshifts, and of the identification of the underlying host galaxies. Nevertheless, our theoretical understanding on the progenitors and central engines powering these vast explosions is lagging behind, and a newly identified class of `ultra-long' GRBs has fuelled speculation on the existence of a new channel of GRB formation. In this paper we present high signal-to-noise X-shooter observations of the host galaxy of GRB130925A, which is the fourth unambiguously identified ultra-long GRB, with prompt gamma-ray emission detected for ~20ks. The GRB line of sight was close to the host galaxy nucleus, and our spectroscopic observations cover both this region along the bulge/disk of the galaxy, in addition to a bright star-forming region within the outskirts of the galaxy. From our broad wavelength coverage we obtain accurate metallicity and dust-extinction measurements at both the galaxy nucleus, and an outer star-forming region, and measure a super-solar metallicity at both locations, placing this galaxy within the 10-20% most metal-rich GRB host galaxies. Such a high metal enrichment has implications on the progenitor models of both long and ultra-long GRBs, although the edge-on orientation of the host galaxy does not allow us to rule out a large metallicity variation along our line of sight. The spatially resolved spectroscopic data presented in this paper offer important insight into variations in the metal and dust abundance within GRB host galaxies. They also illustrate the need for IFU observations on a larger sample of GRB host galaxies at varies metallicities to provide a more quantitative view on the relation between the GRB circumburst and the galaxy-whole properties.

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The Needle in the 100 deg2 Haystack: Uncovering Afterglows of Fermi GRBs with the Palomar Transient Factory

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has greatly expanded the number and energy window of observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, the coarse localizations of tens to a hundred square degrees provided by the Fermi GRB Monitor instrument have posed a formidable obstacle to locating the bursts' host galaxies, measuring their redshifts, and tracking their panchromatic afterglows. We have built a target-of-opportunity mode for the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory in order to perform targeted searches for Fermi afterglows. Here, we present the results of one year of this program: 8 afterglow discoveries out of 35 searches. Two of the bursts with detected afterglows (GRBs 130702A and 140606B) were at low redshift (z=0.145 and 0.384 respectively) and had spectroscopically confirmed broad-line Type Ic supernovae. We present our broadband follow-up including spectroscopy as well as X-ray, UV, optical, millimeter, and radio observations. We study possible selection effects in the context of the total Fermi and Swift GRB samples. We identify one new outlier on the Amati relation. We find that two bursts are consistent with a mildly relativistic shock breaking out from the progenitor star, rather than the ultra-relativistic internal shock mechanism that powers standard cosmological bursts. Finally, in the context of the Zwicky Transient Facility, we discuss how we will continue to expand this effort to find optical counterparts of binary neutron star mergers that may soon be detected by Advanced LIGO and Virgo.

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Multiwavelength analysis of three SNe associated with GRBs observed by GROND

After the discovery of the first connection between GRBs and SNe almost two decades ago, tens of SN-like rebrightenings have been discovered and about seven solid associations have been spectroscopically confirmed to date. Using GROND optical/NIR data and Swift X-ray/UV data, we estimate the intrinsic extinction, luminosity, and evolution of three SN rebrightenings in GRB afterglow light curves at z~0.5. The SNe 2008hw, 2009nz, and 2010ma exhibit 0.80, 1.15, and 1.78 times the optical (r band) luminosity of SN 1998bw, respectively. While SN 2009nz evolves similarly to SN 1998bw, SNe 2008hw and 2010ma show earlier peak times. The quasi-bolometric light curves were corrected for the contribution of the NIR bands using data available in the literature and blackbody fits. The large luminosity of SN 2010ma (1.4x10^43 erg/s) is confirmed, while SNe 2008hw and 2009nz reached a peak luminosity closer to SN 1998bw. Physical parameters of the SN explosions, such as synthesised nickel mass, ejecta mass, and kinetic energy, are estimated using Arnett's analytic approach, which resulted in nickel masses of around 0.4-0.5 Msun. By means of the a very comprehensive data set, we found that the luminosity and the nickel mass of SNe 2008hw, 2009nz, and 2010ma resembles those of other known GRB-associated SNe. This findings strengthens previous claims of GRB-SNe being brighter than type-Ic SNe unaccompanied by GRBs.

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A quiescent galaxy at the position of the long GRB 050219A

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) are produced by the collapse of very massive stars. Due to the short lifetime of their progenitors, LGRBs pinpoint star-forming galaxies. We present here a multi-band search for the host galaxy of the long dark GRB 050219A within the enhanced Swift/XRT error circle. We used spectroscopic observations acquired with VLT/X-shooter to determine the redshift and star-formation rate of the putative host galaxy. We compared the results with the optical/IR spectral energy distribution obtained with different facilities. Surprisingly, the host galaxy is a old and quiescent early-type galaxy at z = 0.211 characterised by an unprecedentedly low specific star-formation rate. It is the first LGRB host to be also an early-type post-starburst galaxy. This is further evidence that GRBs can explode in all kind of galaxies, with the only requirement being an episode of star-formation.

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GROND coverage of the main peak of Gamma-Ray Burst 130925A

Prompt or early optical emission in gamma-ray bursts is notoriously difficult to measure, and observations of the dozen cases show a large variety of properties. Yet, such early emission promises to help us achieve a better understanding of the GRB emission process(es). We performed dedicated observations of the ultra-long duration (T90 about 7000 s) GRB 130925A in the optical/near-infrared with the 7-channel "Gamma-Ray Burst Optical and Near-infrared Detector" (GROND) at the 2.2m MPG/ESO telescope. We detect an optical/NIR flare with an amplitude of nearly 2 mag which is delayed with respect to the keV--MeV prompt emission by about 300--400 s. The decay time of this flare is shorter than the duration of the flare (500 s) or its delay. While we cannot offer a straightforward explanation, we discuss the implications of the flare properties and suggest ways toward understanding it.

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