GRBs as Probes of the IGM

Cucchiara, Antonino; Totani, Tomonori; Tanvir, N. R.

doi:10.1007/s11214-016-0253-4

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…These GRBs are cutting-edge opportunities to characterise the star formation history of the Universe back to the epoch of reionisation (Trenti et al 2012). They would enable the measurement of the chemical composition of intergalactic gas in the early Universe (Cucchiara, Totani, & Tanvir 2016) and the escape fraction of ionising radiation from galaxies (Chen, Prochaska, & Gnedin 2007), which is one of the most challenging, yet fundamental, astronomical measurements. GRBs have distinct advantages as cosmological probes over quasars, as the latter carve out large ionised bubbles within their local environments (Chornock et al 2013), and the future of the field is bright with the James Webb Space Telescope and 30-m class facilities coming online with spectroscopic follow-up capabilities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SkyHopper mission science case I: Identification of high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts through space-based near-infrared afterglow observations

Thomas

Trenti

Greiner

et al. 2022

Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust.

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Long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations offer cutting-edge opportunities to characterise the star formation history of the Universe back to the epoch of reionisation, and to measure the chemical composition of interstellar and intergalactic gas through absorption spectroscopy. The main barrier to progress is the low efficiency in rapidly and confidently identifying which bursts are high redshift ( $z > 5$ ) candidates before they fade, as this requires low-latency follow-up observations at near-infrared wavelengths (or longer) to determine a reliable photometric redshift estimate. Since no current or planned gamma-ray observatories carry near-infrared telescopes on-board, complementary facilities are needed. So far this task has been performed by instruments on the ground, but sky visibility and weather constraints limit the number of GRB targets that can be observed and the speed at which follow-up is possible. In this work we develop a Monte Carlo simulation framework to investigate an alternative approach based on the use of a rapid-response near-infrared nano-satellite, capable of simultaneous imaging in four bands from $0.8$ to $1.7\,\unicode{x03BC}$ m (a mission concept called SkyHopper). Using as reference a sample of 88 afterglows observed with the GROND instrument on the MPG/ESO telescope, we find that such a nano-satellite is capable of detecting in the H-band (1.6 $\unicode{x03BC}$ m) $72.5\% \pm 3.1\%$ of GRBs concurrently observable with the Swift satellite via its UVOT instrument (and $44.1\% \pm 12.3\%$ of high redshift ( $z>5$ ) GRBs) within 60 min of the GRB prompt emission. This corresponds to detecting ${\sim}55$ GRB afterglows per year, of which 1–3 have $z > 5$ . These rates represent a substantial contribution to the field of high-z GRB science, as only 23 $z > 5$ GRBs have been collectively discovered by the entire astronomical community over the last ${\sim}24$ yr. Future discoveries are critically needed to take advantage of next generation follow-up spectroscopic facilities such as 30m-class ground telescopes and the James Webb Space Telescope. Furthermore, a systematic space-based follow-up of afterglows in the near-infrared will offer new insight on the population of dusty (‘dark’) GRBs which are primarily found at cosmic noon ( $z\sim 1-3$ ). Additionally, we find that launching a mini-constellation of 3 near-infrared nano-satellites would increase the detection fraction of afterglows to ${\sim}83\%$ and substantially reduce the latency in the photometric redshift determination.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SkyHopper mission science case I: Identification of high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts through space-based near-infrared afterglow observations

Thomas

Trenti

Greiner

et al. 2022

Publ. Astron. Soc. Aust.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These GRBs are cutting-edge opportunities to characterise the star formation history of the Universe back to the epoch of reionisation (Trenti et al, 2012). They would enable the measurement of the chemical composition of intergalactic gas in the early Universe (Cucchiara et al, 2016) and the escape fraction of ionising radiation from galaxies (Chen et al, 2007), which is one of the most challenging, yet fundamental, astronomical measurements. GRBs have distinct advantages as cosmological probes over quasars, as the latter carve out large ionised bubbles within their local environments (Chornock et al, 2013), and the future of the field is bright with the James Webb Space Telescope and 30m class facilities coming online with spectroscopic follow-up capabilities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SkyHopper mission science case I: Identification of high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts through space-based near-infrared afterglow observations

Thomas,

Trenti,

Greiner

et al. 2022

Preprint

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View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations offer cutting-edge opportunities to characterise the star formation history of the Universe back to the epoch of reionisation, and to measure the chemical composition of interstellar and intergalactic gas through absorption spectroscopy. The main barrier to progress is the low efficiency in rapidly and confidently identifying which bursts are high redshift (z > 5) candidates before they fade, as this requires low-latency follow-up observations at near-infrared wavelengths (or longer) to determine a reliable photometric redshift estimate. Since no current or planned gamma ray observatories carry near-infrared telescopes on-board, complementary facilities are needed. So far this task has been performed by instruments on the ground, but sky visibility and weather constraints limit the number of GRB targets that can be observed and the speed at which follow-up is possible. In this work we develop a Monte Carlo simulation framework to investigate an alternative approach based on the use of a rapid-response near-infrared nano-satellite, capable of simultaneous imaging in four bands from 0.8 to 1.7µm (a mission concept called SkyHopper). Using as reference a sample of 88 afterglows observed with the GROND instrument on the MPG/ESO telescope, we find that such a nano-satellite is capable of detecting in the H band (1.6 µm) 72.5% ± 3.1% of GRBs concurrently observable with the Swift satellite via its UVOT instrument (and 44.1% ± 12.3% of high redshift (z > 5) GRBs) within 60 minutes of the GRB prompt emission. This corresponds to detecting ∼ 55 GRB afterglows per year, of which 1-3 have z > 5. These rates represent a substantial contribution to the field of high-z GRB science, as only 23 z > 5 GRBs have been collectively discovered by the entire astronomical community over the last ∼ 24 years. Future discoveries are critically needed to take advantage of next generation follow-up spectroscopic facilities such as 30m-class ground telescopes and the James Webb Space Telescope. Furthermore, a systematic space-based follow-up of afterglows in the near-infrared will offer new insight on the population of dusty ('dark') GRBs which are primarily found at cosmic noon (z ∼ 1 -3). Additionally, we find that launching a mini-constellation of 3 near-infrared nano-satellites would increase the detection fraction of afterglows to ∼ 83% and substantially reduce the latency in the photometric redshift determination.

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GRBs as Probes of the IGM

Cited by 2 publications

References 95 publications

SkyHopper mission science case I: Identification of high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts through space-based near-infrared afterglow observations

SkyHopper mission science case I: Identification of high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts through space-based near-infrared afterglow observations

SkyHopper mission science case I: Identification of high redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts through space-based near-infrared afterglow observations

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