GRB 160410A: The first chemical study of the interstellar medium of a short GRB

Agüí Fernández, JF ORCID: 0000-0001-6991-7616, Thöne, CC, Kann, DA, de Ugarte Postigo, A, Selsing, J, Schady, P ORCID: 0000-0002-1214-770X, Yates, RM ORCID: 0000-0001-9320-4958, Greiner, J, Oates, SR, Malesani, DB, Xu, D, Klotz, A, Campana, S, Rossi, A ORCID: 0000-0002-8860-6538, Perley, DA ORCID: 0000-0001-8472-1996, Blažek, M ORCID: 0000-0003-0034-7891, D’Avanzo, P, Giunta, A, Hartmann, D, Heintz, KE ORCID: 0000-0002-9389-7413 et al (2023) GRB 160410A: The first chemical study of the interstellar medium of a short GRB. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 520 (1). pp. 613-636. ISSN 0035-8711

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Abstract

Short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) are produced by the coalescence of compact binary systems which are remnants of massive stars. GRB 160410A is classified as a short-duration GRB with extended emission and is currently the farthest SGRB with a redshift determined from an afterglow spectrum and also one of the brightest SGRBs to date. The fast reaction to the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory alert allowed us to obtain a spectrum of the afterglow using the X-shooter spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The spectrum shows several absorption features at a redshift of z = 1.7177, in addition, we detect two intervening systems at z = 1.581 and z = 1.444. The spectrum shows Ly α in absorption with a column density of log (N(H I)/cm2) = 21.2 ± 0.2 which, together with Fe II, C II, Si II, Al II, and O I, allow us to perform the first study of chemical abundances in a SGRB host galaxy. We determine a metallicity of [X/H] = −2.3 ± 0.2 for Fe II and −2.5 ± 0.2 for Si II and no dust depletion. We also find no evidence for extinction in the afterglow spectral energy distribution modelling. The environment has a low degree of ionization and the C IV and Si IV lines are completely absent. We do not detect an underlying host galaxy down to deep limits. Additionally, we compare GRB 160410A to GRB 201221D, another high-z short GRB that shows absorption lines at z = 1.045 and an underlying massive host galaxy.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2023 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; Astronomy & Astrophysics
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions:	Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher:	Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date of acceptance:	3 January 2023
Date of first compliant Open Access:	15 March 2023
Date Deposited:	15 Mar 2023 13:12
Last Modified:	05 Jul 2025 09:30
DOI or ID number:	10.1093/mnras/stad099
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/19102

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