GRB 090926A and Bright Late-time Fermi LAT GRB Afterglows
C A Swenson,
A Maxham,
P W A Roming,
P Schady,
L Vetere,
B Zhang,
B B Zhang,
S T Holland,
J A Kennea,
N P M Kuin,
S R Oates,
K L Page and
M De Pasquale
arXiv:1004.5099 [astro-ph.HE] 28 Apr 2010
GRB 090926A was detected by both the GBM and LAT instruments on-board the
Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. Swift follow-up observations began ~13 hours
after the initial trigger. The optical afterglow was detected for nearly 23
days post trigger, placing it in the long lived category. The afterglow is of
particular interest due to its brightness at late times, as well as the
presence of optical flares at T0+10^5 s and later, which may indicate late-time
central engine activity. The LAT has detected a total of 16 GRBs; 9 of these
bursts, including GRB 090926A, also have been observed by Swift. Of the 9 Swift
observed LAT bursts, 6 were detected by UVOT, with 5 of the bursts having
bright, long-lived optical afterglows. In comparison, Swift has been operating
for 5 years and has detected nearly 500 bursts, but has only seen ~30% of
bursts with optical afterglows that live longer than 10^5 s. We have calculated
the predicted gamma-ray fluence, as would have been seen by the BAT on-board
Swift, of the LAT bursts to determine whether this high percentage of
long-lived optical afterglows is unique, when compared to BAT-triggered bursts.
We find that, with the exception of the short burst GRB 090510A, the predicted
BAT fluences indicate the LAT bursts are more energetic than 88% of all Swift
bursts, and also have brighter than average X-ray and optical afterglows.
DOI:
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