English

Time Evolution of Optical Darkness in GRB Afterglow: The Case of GRB 240825A

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2026-01-21 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies

Abstract

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are believed to occur in star-forming regions. The multiwavelength follow-up observations of the early afterglow of GRB 240825A provided insights into the evolution of the optical-to-X-ray spectral feature of the afterglow. We comprehensively investigate the evolution of X-ray spectral properties through time-resolved spectral analysis and calculate optical darkness (βOX\beta_\mathrm{OX}) to reveal the physical properties of the afterglow. The X-ray-to-optical SEDs of afterglow in different time intervals are fitted to derive the extinction curves. The βOX\beta_\mathrm{OX} exhibits a trend of decreasing and then increasing, reaching its minimum value at 1000s\sim1000\mathrm{\,s} post-trigger. However, at 11 hours post-trigger, βOX\beta_\mathrm{OX} does not meet the criteria for an optically dark burst. The extinction curves in different time intervals indicate that GRB 240825A occurred in a dust-obscured environment.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.15162,
  title  = {Time Evolution of Optical Darkness in GRB Afterglow: The Case of GRB 240825A},
  author = {Rui-Zhi Li and Jirong Mao and Yuan-Pei Yang and Bo-Ting Wang and Fei-Fan Song and Yu-Xin Xin and Jin-Ming Bai},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.15162},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in ApJ