GRB 010921: Strong Limits on an Underlying Supernova from HST
Abstract
GRB 010921 was the first HETE-2 GRB to be localized via its afterglow emission. The low-redshift of the host galaxy, z=0.451, prompted us to undertake intensive multi-color observations with the Hubble Space Telescope with the goal of searching for an underlying supernova component. We do not detect any coincident supernova to a limit 1.34 mag fainter than SN 1998bw at 99.7% confidence, making this one of the most sensitive searches for an underlying SN. Analysis of the afterglow data allow us to infer that the GRB was situated behind a net extinction (Milky Way and the host galaxy) of A_V ~ 1.8 mag in the observer frame. Thus, had it not been for such heavy extinction our data would have allowed us to probe for an underlying SN with brightness approaching those of more typical Type Ib/c supernovae.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0207187,
title = {GRB 010921: Strong Limits on an Underlying Supernova from HST},
author = {P. A. Price and S. R. Kulkarni and B. P. Schmidt and T. J. Galama and J. S. Bloom and E. Berger and D. A. Frail and S. G. Djorgovski and D. W. Fox and A. A. Henden and S. Klose and F. A. Harrison and D. E. Reichart and R. Sari and S. A. Yost and T. S. Axelrod and P. McCarthy and J. Holtzman and J. P. Halpern and R. A. Kimble and J. C. Wheeler and R. A. Chevalier and K. Hurley and G. R. Ricker and E. Costa and F. Frontera and L. Piro},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0207187},
year = {2010}
}
Comments
18 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to Astrophysical Journal Letters