arXiv subjects

J. X. Prochaska

Publications and source records attributed to J. X. Prochaska.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

In Situ Probes of the First Galaxies and Reionization: Gamma-ray Bursts

The first structures in the Universe formed at z>7, at higher redshift than all currently known galaxies. Since GRBs are brighter than other cosmological sources at high redshift and exhibit simple power-law afterglow spectra that is ideal for absorption studies, they serve as powerful tools for studying the early universe. New facilities planned for the coming decade will be able to obtain a large sample of high-redshift GRBs. Such a sample would constrain the nature of the first stars, galaxies, and the reionization history of the Universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

The First Positive Detection of Molecular Gas in a GRB Host Galaxy

We report on strong H2 and CO absorption from gas within the host galaxy of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 080607. Analysis of our Keck/LRIS afterglow spectrum reveals a very large HI column density (NHI = 10^22.70 cm^-2) and strong metal-line absorption at z_GRB = 3.0363 with a roughly solar metallicity. We detect a series of A-X bandheads from CO and estimate N(CO) = 10^16.5 cm^-2 and T_ex^CO > 100K. We argue that the high excitation temperature results from UV pumping of the CO gas by the GRB afterglow. Similarly, we observe H2 absorption via the Lyman-Werner bands and estimate N(H2) = 10^21.2 cm^-2 with T_ex^H2 = 10--300K. The afterglow photometry suggests an extinction law with R_V=4 and A_V=3.2 mag and requires the presence of a modest 2175A bump. Additionally, modeling of the Swift/XRT X-ray spectrum confirms a large column density with N(H) = 10^22.58 cm^-2. Remarkably, this molecular gas has extinction properties, metallicity, and a CO/H2 ratio comparable to those of translucent molecular clouds of the Milky Way, suggesting that star formation at high z proceeds in similar environments as today. However, the integrated dust-to-metals ratio is sub-Galactic, suggesting the dust is primarily associated with the molecular phase while the atomic gas has a much lower dust-to-gas ratio. Sightlines like GRB 080607 serve as powerful probes of nucleosynthesis and star-forming regions in the young universe and contribute to the population of "dark" GRB afterglows.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2008

The Connection between a Lyman Limit System, a very strong OVI Absorber, and Galaxies at z~0.203

With a column density log N(OVI) = 14.95+/-0.05, the OVI absorber at z_abs~0.2028 observed toward the QSO PKS0312-77 (z_em=0.223) is the strongest yet detected at z<0.5. At nearly identical redshift (z_abs=0.2026), we also identify a Lyman limit system (LLS, log N(HI)=18.22). Combining FUV and NUV spectra of PKS0312-77 with optical observations of galaxies in the surrounding field (15'x32'), we present an analysis of these absorbers and their connection to galaxies. The observed OI/HI ratio and photoionization modelling of other low ions indicate the metallicity of the LLS is [Z/H]_LLS=-0.6 and that the LLS is nearly 100% photoionized. In contrast, the OVI-bearing gas is collisionally ionized at T~(3-10)x10^5 K as derived from the high-ion ratios and profile broadenings. Our galaxy survey reveals 13 (0.3<L/L*<1.6) galaxies at ρ<2 h^{-1}_{70} Mpc and |δv|<1100 km/s from the LLS. A probable origin for the LLS is debris from a galaxy merger, which led to a 0.7L* galaxy ([Z/H]_gal=+0.15) atρ~38 h^{-1}_{70} kpc. Outflow from this galaxy may also be responsible for the supersolar ([Z/H]_abs=+0.15), fully ionized absorber at z_abs=0.2018 (-190 km/s from the LLS). The hot OVI absorber likely probes coronal gas about the 0.7 L* galaxy and/or (~0.1 keV) intragroup gas of a spiral-rich system. The association of other strong OVI absorbers with LLS suggests they trace galactic and not intergalactic structures.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Observations of the Naked-Eye GRB 080319B: Implications of Nature's Brightest Explosion

The first gamma-ray burst (GRB) confirmed to be bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, GRB 080319B at redshift z = 0.937, allowed for exquisite follow-up observations across the electromagnetic spectrum. We present our detailed optical and infrared observations of the afterglow, consisting of over 5000 images starting 51 s after the GRB trigger, in concert with our own analysis of the Swift data. The event is extreme not only in observed properties but intrinsically: it was the most luminous event ever recorded at optical and infrared wavelengths and had an exceedingly high isotropic-equivalent energy release in gamma-rays. At early times, the afterglow evolution is broadly consistent with being reverse-shock dominated, but then is subsumed by a forward shock at around 1000 s. The overall spectral energy distribution, spanning from ultraviolet through near-infrared wavelengths, shows no evidence for a significant amount of dust extinction in the host frame. The afterglow evolution, however, is highly chromatic: starting at about 1000 s the index shifts blueward before shifting back to the red at late times. In our deepest late-time observations, we find tentative evidence for an optical jet break and a luminous supernova. Finally, we examine the detectability of such events with current and future facilities and find that such an event could be detected in gamma-rays by BAT out to z = 10.7 (8 sigma), while the nominal EXIST sensitivity would allow detection to z ~ 32. At K band, this source would have been easily detected with meter-class telescopes to z ~ 17.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Constraining the star formation histories of GRB Host Galaxies from their observed abundance patterns

Long-duration Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are linked to the collapse of massive stars and their hosts are exclusively identified as active, star forming galaxies. Four long GRBs observed at high spectral resolution at redshift 1.5 <z < 4 allowed the determination of the elemental abundances for a set of different chemical elements. In this paper, for the first time, by means of detailed chemical evolution models taking into account also dust production, we attempt to constrain the star formation history of the host galaxies of these GRBs from the study of the chemical abundances measured in their ISM. We are also able to provide constraints on the age and on the dust content of GRB hosts. Our results support the hypothesis that long duration GRBs occur preferentially in low metallicity, star forming galaxies. We compare the specific star formation rate, namely the star formation rate per unit stellar mass, predicted for the hosts of these GRBs with observational values for GRB hosts distributed across a large redshift range. Our models predict a decrease of the specific star formation rate (SSFR) with redshift, consistent with the observed decrease of the comoving cosmic SFR density between z ~2 and z=0. On the other hand, observed GRB hosts seems to follow an opposite trend in the SSFR vs redshift plot, with an increase of the SSFR with decreasing redshift. Finally, we compare the SSFR of GRB050730 host with values derived for a sample of Quasar damped Lyman alpha systems. Our results indicate that the abundance pattern and the specific star formation rates of the host galaxies of these GRBs are basically compatible with the ones determined in Quasar damped Lyman alpha systems, suggesting similar chemical evolution paths.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

GRB 071003: Broadband Follow-up Observations of a Very Bright Gamma-Ray Burst in a Galactic Halo

The optical afterglow of long-duration GRB 071003 is among the brightest yet to be detected from any GRB, with R ~ 12 mag in KAIT observations starting 42 s after the GRB trigger, including filtered detections during prompt emission. However, our high S/N ratio afterglow spectrum displays only extremely weak absorption lines at what we argue is the host redshift of z = 1.60435 - in contrast to the three other, much stronger Mg II absorption systems observed at lower redshifts. Together with Keck adaptive optics observations which fail to reveal a host galaxy coincident with the burst position, our observations suggest a halo progenitor and offer a cautionary tale about the use of Mg II for GRB redshift determination. We present early through late-time observations spanning the electromagnetic spectrum, constrain the connection between the prompt emission and early variations in the light curve (we observe no correlation), and discuss possible origins for an unusual, marked rebrightening that occurs a few hours after the burst: likely either a late-time refreshed shock or a wide-angle secondary jet. Analysis of the late-time afterglow is most consistent with a wind environment, suggesting a massive star progenitor. Together with GRB 070125, this may indicate that a small but significant portion of star formation in the early universe occurred far outside what we consider a normal galactic disk.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

High-Redshift Starbursting Dwarf Galaxies Revealed by GRB Afterglows

We present a study of 15 long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxies at z>2. The GRBs are selected with available early-time afterglow spectra in order to compare interstellar medium (ISM) absorption-line properties with stellar properties of the host galaxies. In addition to five previously studied hosts, we consider new detections for the host galaxies of GRB050820 and GRB060206 and place 2-sigma upper limits to the luminosities of the remaining unidentified hosts. We examine the nature of the host galaxy population and find that (1) the UV luminosity distribution of GRB host galaxies is consistent with expectations from a UV luminosity weighted random galaxy population with a median luminosity of =0.1 L*; (2) there exists a moderate correlation between UV luminosity and SiII 1526 absorption width, which together with the observed large line widths of W(1526)>1.5 Ang for a large fraction of the objects suggests a galactic outflow driven velocity field in the host galaxies; (3) there is tentative evidence for a trend of declining ISM metallicity with decreasing galaxy luminosity in the star-forming galaxy population at z=2-4; (4) the interstellar UV radiation field is found ~ 35-350 times higher in GRB hosts than the Galactic mean value; and (5) additional galaxies are found at < 2" from the GRB host in all fields with known presence of strong MgII absorbers, but no additional faint galaxies are found at < 2" in fields without strong MgII absorbers. Our study confirms that the GRB host galaxies (with known optical afterglows) are representative of unobscured star-forming galaxies at z>2, and demonstrates that high spatial resolution images are necessary for an accurate identification of GRB host galaxies in the presence of strong intervening absorbers.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Emergence of a Quasar Outflow

We report the first discovery of the emergence of a high-velocity broad-line outflow in a luminous quasar, J105400.40+034801.2 at redshift z ~ 2.1. The outflow is evident in ultraviolet CIV and SiIV absorption lines with velocity shifts v ~ 26,300 km/s and deblended widths FWHM ~ 4000 km/s. These features are marginally strong and broad enough to be considered broad absorption lines (BALs), but their large velocities exclude them from the standard BAL definition. The outflow lines appeared between two observations in the years 2002.18 and 2006.96. A third observation in 2008.48 showed the lines becoming ~40% weaker and 10% to 15% narrower. There is no evidence for acceleration or for any outflow gas at velocities <23,000 km/s. The lines appear to be optically thick, with the absorber covering just 20% of the quasar continuum source. This indicates a characteristic absorber size of ~4 x 10^15 cm, but with a BAL-like total column density log N_H (cm^-2) > 21.2 and average space density n_H > 2 x 10^5 cm^-3. We attribute the emergence of the outflow lines to a substantial flow structure moving across our line of sight, possibly near the ragged edge of the main BAL flow or possibly related to the onset of a BAL evolutionary phase.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

A Direct Precision Measurement of the Intergalactic Lyman-alpha Opacity at 2<z<4.2

We directly measure the evolution of the intergalactic Lya effective optical depth, tau_eff, over the redshift range 2 ~3 based on directly fitting the quasar continua in the Lya forest, which have generally neglected this effect, are therefore likely biased low. We provide estimates of the level of absorption arising from metals in the Lya forest based on both direct and statistical metal removal results in the literature, finding that this contribution is ~6-9% at z=3 and decreases monotonically with redshift. The high precision of our measurement, attaining 3% in redshift bins of width Delta z=0.2 around z=3, indicates significant departures from the best-fit power-law redshift evolution (tau_eff=0.0018(1+z)^3.92, when metals are left in), particularly near z=3.2. The observed downward departure is statistically consistent with a similar feature detected in a precision statistical measurement using Sloan Digital Sky Survey spectra by Bernardi and coworkers using an independent approach.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Probing feedback in protogalaxies: Multiphase gas in a DLA at z~2.4

We investigate the physical processes occuring in the multiphase gas of a damped Lyαsystem (DLA). We base our analysis on a high quality Keck HIRES spectrum of the QSO J1211+0422 in which a DLA is detected at z=2.377. There is little contamination of the high-ion (OVI, NV, CIV, SiIV) absorption, allowing us to explore the properties of the highly ionized gas and its connection to other gas-phases. The metallicity ([Z/H]=-1.41+/-0.08), HI column density (log N(HI)=20.80+/-0.10), full-width velocity (Δ(v_ neut)=70 km/s) and relative abundances ([Si/Fe]=+0.23+/-0.05 and [N/Si]=-0.88+/-0.07) of this DLA are not unusual. However, we derive the lowest CII* cooling rate in a DLA, l_c < 10^{-27.8} erg/s per H atom (3σ). Using this stringent limit, we show that the neutral gas (confined at |v|<+39 km/s) must be warm and the star formation rate is <7.1x10^{-3} M_odot/yr/kpc^2. Surprisingly, the gas shows strong, complex absorption profiles from highly ionized gas whose kinematics appear connected to each other and the low ions. The total amount of highly and weakly ionized gas is very large with N(HII)/N(HI)>1.5. At |v|>+39 km/s, the gas is fully and highly ionized (H+/H~1, N(CIV)>>N(CII), N(SiIV)>>N(SiII)). Based on ionization models, OVI and NV are generally difficult to produce by hard photons, while SiIV and CIV can be photoionized to a large extent. There is, however, no evidence of OVI-bearing gas at T~10^6 K associated with this DLA. In contrast, there is some evidence for narrow OVI, NV, and CIV components (unexplained by photoionization), implying too low temperatures (T < 10^5 K) for simple collisional ionization models to produce their observed column densities. Stellar feedback is a possible source for producing the high ions, but we cannot rule out accretion of non-pristine material onto the protogalaxy.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Large excess of heavy nitrogen in both hydrogen cyanide and cyanogen from comet 17P/Holmes

From millimeter and optical observations of the Jupiter-family comet 17P/Holmes performed soon after its huge outburst of October 24, 2007, we derive 14 N/15N = 139 +/- 26 in HCN, and 14N/15N = 165 +/- 40 in CN, establishing that HCN has the same non-terrestrial isotopic composition as CN. The same conclusion is obtained for the long-period comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) after a reanalysis of previously published measurements. These results are compatible with HCN being the prime parent of CN in cometary atmospheres. The 15N excess relative to the Earth atmospheric value indicates that N-bearing volatiles in the solar nebula underwent important N isotopic fractionation at some stage of Solar System formation. HCN molecules never isotopically equilibrated with the main nitrogen reservoir in the solar nebula before being incorporated in Oort-cloud and Kuiper-belt comets. The 12C/13C ratios in HCN and CN are measured to be consistent with the terrestrial value.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

A Century of Cosmology: A Direct Precision Measurement of the Intergalactic Lyman-alpha Opacity at 2<z<4.2

We directly measure the evolution of the intergalactic Lyman-alpha effective optical depth, tau_eff, over the redshift range 2 is <1% at z=2, 4% at z=3, and 12% at z=4. We provide estimates of the level of absorption arising from metals in the Ly-alpha forest based on both direct and statistical metal removal results in the literature, finding that this contribution is ~6-9% at z=3 and decreases monotonically with redshift. The high precision of our measurement indicates significant departures from the best-fit power-law redshift evolution, particularly near z=3.2.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

The Troublesome Broadband Evolution of GRB 061126: Does a Grey Burst Imply Grey Dust?

We report on observations of a gamma-ray burst (GRB 061126) with an extremely bright (R ~ 12 mag at peak) early-time optical afterglow. The optical afterglow is already fading as a power law 22 seconds after the trigger, with no detectable prompt contribution in our first exposure, which was coincident with a large prompt-emission gamma-ray pulse. The optical--infrared photometric spectral energy distribution is an excellent fit to a power law, but it exhibits a moderate red-to-blue evolution in the spectral index at about 500 s after the burst. This color change is contemporaneous with a switch from a relatively fast decay to slower decay. The rapidly decaying early afterglow is broadly consistent with synchrotron emission from a reverse shock, but a bright forward-shock component predicted by the intermediate- to late-time X-ray observations under the assumptions of standard afterglow models is not observed. Indeed, despite its remarkable early-time brightness, this burst would qualify as a dark burst at later times on the basis of its nearly flat optical-to-X-ray spectral index. Our photometric spectral energy distribution provides no evidence of host-galaxy extinction, requiring either large quantities of grey dust in the host system (at redshift 1.1588 +/- 0.0006, based upon our late-time Keck spectroscopy) or separate physical origins for the X-ray and optical afterglows.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Super Star Cluster NGC1705-1: A Local Analogue to the Birthsite of Long-duration Gamma-ray Bursts

Recent observations suggest that global properties of the host galaxies for long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are particularly well-suited for creating the massive star progenitors of these GRBs. Motivated by the hypothesis that massive young star clusters located in metal-poor, low-metallicity galaxies are a natural birthsite for GRB progenitors, we present a comparison study of the ISM properties along the sightline toward the super star cluster, NGC1705-1, and those in distant GRB hosts. Using the same set of metal transitions in the UV and applying known ISM structures in NGC1705, we find that NGC1705-1 resembles distant GRB host galaxies in its high neutral gas column, low molecular gas fraction, low metallicity, alpha-element enhancement,and low dust depletion. The lack of molecular gas is due to the enhanced UV radiation field in the starburst environment, consistent with the expectations for GRB progenitors. In addition, the known presence of dense neutral gas clouds at r<500 pc from NGC1705-1 provides a natural reservoir of C^+, Si^+, and Fe^+ ions that may be subsequently excited by the afterglow UV radiation field to produce excited lines commonly seen in GRB host ISM. We further argue that the apparent offset in the velocity profiles of low- and high-ionization transitions from absorption-line observations alone already offers important clues for related starburst episodes in GRB host galaxies. Our study shows that a statistical comparison between the ISM around star clusters and high-redshift GRB progenitors is important for identifying the key physical parameters that facilitate the formation of GRBs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

A new comprehensive set of elemental abundances in DLAs III. Star formation histories

We obtained comprehensive sets of elemental abundances for eleven damped Ly-alpha systems (DLAs) at z_DLA=1.7-2.5. In Paper I of this series, we showed for three DLA galaxies that we can derive their star formation histories and ages from a detailed comparison of their intrinsic abundance patterns with chemical evolution models. We determine in this paper the star formation properties of six additional DLA galaxies. The derived results confirm that no single star formation history explains the diverse sets of abundance patterns in DLAs. We demonstrate that the various star formation histories reproducing the DLA abundance patterns are typical of local irregular, dwarf starburst and quiescent spiral galaxies. Independent of the star formation history, the DLAs have a common characteristic of being weak star forming galaxies; models with high star formation efficiencies are ruled out. All the derived DLA star formation rates per unit area are moderate or low, with values between -3.2 < log SFR < -1.1 M_sol yr^{-1} kpc^{-2}. The DLA abundance patterns require a large spread in ages ranging from 20 Myr up to 3 Gyr. The oldest DLA in our sample is observed at z_DLA=1.864 with an age estimated to more than 3 Gyr; it nicely indicates that galaxies were already forming at z_f>10. But, most of the DLAs show ages much younger than that of the Universe at the epoch of observation. Young galaxies thus seem to populate the high redshift Universe at z>2, suggesting relatively low redshifts of formation (z~3) for most high-redshift galaxies. The DLA star formation properties are compared with those of other high-redshift galaxies identified in deep imaging surveys with the aim of obtaining a global picture of high-redshift objects.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

The Interstellar Medium of GRB Host Galaxies I. Echelle Spectra of Swift GRB Afterglows

We present optical echelle spectra of four gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows (GRB 050730, GRB 050820, GRB 051111, and GRB 060418) discovered during the first 1.5 years of operation of the Swift satellite and localized by either the Swift telescope or follow-up ground-based imaging. We analyze the spectra to derive accurate column density measurements for the transitions arising in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the GRB host galaxies. These measurements can be used to constrain the physical properties of the ISM including the metallicity, dust-to-gas ratio, ionization state, and chemical abundances of the gas. We also present measurements of the strong MgII systems in the GRB afterglow spectra. With the publication of this paper, we provide the first data release of echelle afterglow spectra by the GRAASP collaboration to the general community.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

When Do Internal Shocks End and External Shocks Begin? Early-Time Broadband Modelling of GRB 051111

Even with the renaissance in gamma-ray burst (GRB) research fostered by the Swift satellite, few bursts have both contemporaneous observations at long wavelengths and exquisite observations at later times across the electromagnetic spectrum. We present here contemporaneous imaging with the KAIT robotic optical telescope, dense optical sampling with Lulin, and supplemented with infrared data from PAIRITEL and radio to gamma-ray data from the literature. For the first time, we can test the constancy of microphysical parameters in the internal-external shock paradigm and carefully trace the flow of energy from the GRB to the surrounding medium. KAIT data taken <~1 minute after the start of GRB051111 and coinciding with the fading gamma-ray tail of the prompt emission indicate a smooth re-injection of energy into the shock. No color change is apparent in observations beginning ~1.5 minutes after the GRB and lasting for the first hour after the burst. There are achromatic flux modulations about the best-fit model at late (t~10^4 s) times, possibly due to variations in the external density. We find that the host-galaxy extinction is well fit by a curve similar to that ofthe Small Magellanic Cloud. Low visual extinction, A_V~0.2 mag, combined with high column densities determined from the X-ray and optical spectroscopy (N_H> 10^21 cm^-2), indicate a low dust-to-metals ratio and a possible over-abundance of the light metals. An apparent small ratio of total to selective extinction (R_V~2) argues against dust destruction by the GRB. Time constancy of both the IR/optical/UV spectral energy distribution and the soft X-ray absorption suggests that the absorbing material is not local to the GRB.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

A Putative Early-Type Host Galaxy for GRB 060502B: Implications for the Progenitors of Short-Duration Hard-Spectrum Bursts

Starting with the first detection of an afterglow from a short-duration hard-spectrum gamma-ray burst (SHB) by Swift last year, a growing body of evidence has suggested that SHBs are associated with an older and lower-redshift galactic population than long-soft GRBs and, in a few cases, with large (>~ 10 kpc) projected offsets from the centers of their putative host galaxies. Here we present observations of the field of GRB 060502B, a SHB detected by Swift and localized by the X-ray Telescope (XRT). We find a massive red galaxy at a redshift of z=0.287 at an angular distance of 17.1 arcsec from our revised XRT position. Using associative and probabilistic arguments we suggest that this galaxy hosted the progenitor of GRB 060502B. If true, this offset would correspond to a physical displacement of 73 +- 19 kpc in projection, about twice the largest offset inferred for any SHB to date and almost an order of magnitude larger than a typical long-soft burst offset. Spectra and modeling of the star-formation history of this possible host show it to have undergone a large ancient starburst. If the progenitor of GRB 060502B was formed in this starburst episode, the time of the GRB explosion since birth is tau = 1.3 +- 0.2 Gyr and the minimum kick velocity of the SHB progenitor is v_kick = 55 +- 15 km/s.

astro-ph↗