Identifying the Location in the Host Galaxy of the Short GRB 111117A with the Chandra Subarcsecond Position

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-20-2013

Abstract

We present our successful Chandra program designed to identify, with subarcsecond accuracy, the X-ray afterglow of the short GRB 111117A, which was discovered by Swift and Fermi. Thanks to our rapid target of opportunity request, Chandra clearly detected the X-ray afterglow, though no optical afterglow was found in deep optical observations. The host galaxy was clearly detected in the optical and near-infrared band, with the best photometric redshift of z = 1.31+0.46 −0.23 (90% confidence), making it one of the highest known short gamma-ray burst (GRB) redshifts. Furthermore, we see an offset of 1.0 ± 0.2 arcsec, which corresponds to 8.4 ± 1.7 kpc, between the host and the afterglow position. We discuss the importance of using Chandra for obtaining subarcsecond X-ray localizations of short GRB afterglows to study GRB environments.

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