Open AccessOptical Follow-Up of GRB 970508
Author(s) -
T. J. Galama,
P. Groot,
J. van Paradijs,
C. Kouveliotou,
R. G. Strom,
R. A. M. J. Wijers,
N. R. Tanvir,
J. S. Bloom,
M. Centurión,
J. H. Telting,
R. G. M. Rutten,
Paul S. Smith,
C. Mackey,
S. J. Smartt,
Chris Benn,
J. Heise,
J. in't Zand
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the astrophysical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.376
H-Index - 489
eISSN - 1538-4357
pISSN - 0004-637X
DOI - 10.1086/311268
Subject(s) - afterglow , gamma ray burst , light curve , flattening , astrophysics , fluence , physics , power law , exponent , optics , astronomy , statistics , mathematics , laser , linguistics , philosophy
We report on the results of optical follow-up observations of the counterpart of the gamma-ray burst GRB 970508, starting 7 hr after the event. Multicolor U-, B-, V-, Rc-, and Ic-band observations were obtained during the first three consecutive nights. The counterpart was monitored regularly in Rc until ~4 months after the burst. The light curve after the maximum follows a decline that can be fitted with a power law with exponent alpha = -1.141 +/- 0.014. Deviations from a smooth power-law decay are moderate (rms = 0.15 mag). We find no flattening of the light curve at late times. The optical afterglow fluence is a significant fraction, ~5%, of the GRB fluence. The optical energy distribution can be well represented by a power law, the slope of which changed at the time of the maximum (the spectrum became redder)
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