2005A&A...438..793F -
Astronomy and Astrophysics, volume 438, 793-801 (2005/8-2)
Out of the darkness: the infrared afterglow of the INTEGRAL burst GRB040422 observed with the VLT.
FILLIATRE P., D'AVANZO P., COVINO S., MALESANI D., TAGLIAFERRI G., McGLYNN S., MORAN L., GOLDONI P., CAMPANA S., CHINCARINI G., STELLA L., DELLA VALLE M., GEHRELS N., McBREEN S., HANLON L., McBREEN B., NOUSEK J.A. and PERNA R.
Abstract (from CDS):
object{GRB040422} was detected by the INTEGRAL satellite at an angle of only 3 degrees from the Galactic plane. Analysis of the prompt emission observed with the SPI and IBIS instruments on INTEGRAL are presented. The IBIS spectrum is well fit by the Band model with a break energy of E
0=56±2keV and E
peak=41±3keV. The peak flux is 1.8x10
–7erg/cm
2/s and fluence 3.4x10
–7erg/cm
2 in the range 20-200keV. We then present the observations of the afterglow of
GRB040422, obtained with the ISAAC and FORS2 instruments at the VLT less than 2h after the burst. We report the discovery of its near-infrared afterglow, for which we give the astrometry and photometry. No detection could have been obtained in the R and I bands, partly due to the large extinction in the Milky Way. We imaged the position of the afterglow again two months later in the K
s band, and detected a likely bright host galaxy. We compare the magnitude of the afterglow with those of a compilation of promptly observed counterparts of previous GRBs, and show that the afterglow of
GRB040422 lies at the very faint end of the distribution, brighter only than that of
GRB021211, singled out later and in the optical bands, and
GRB040924 after accounting for Milky Way extinction. This observation suggests that the proportion of dark GRBs can be lowered significantly by a more systematic use of 8-m class telescopes in the infrared in the very early hours after the burst.
Abstract Copyright:
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Journal keyword(s):
gamma rays: bursts
Simbad objects:
26
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