Open AccessA new constraint for gamma‐ray burst progenitor mass
Author(s) -
Larsson Josefin,
Levan Andrew J.,
Davies Melvyn B.,
Fruchter Andrew S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2007.11523.x
Subject(s) - physics , gamma ray burst , supernova , astrophysics , stars , galaxy , astronomy
Recent comparative observations of long‐duration gamma‐ray bursts (LGRBs) and core collapse supernova (cc SN) host galaxies demonstrate that these two, highly energetic transient events are distributed very differently upon their hosts. LGRBs are much more concentrated on their host galaxy light than cc SN. Here we explore the suggestion that this differing distribution reflects different progenitor masses for LGRBs and cc SN. Using a simple model we show that, assuming cc SN arise from stars with main‐sequence masses >8 M ⊙ , GRBs are likely to arise from stars with initial masses >20 M ⊙ . This difference can naturally be explained by the requirement that stars which create a LGRB must also create a black hole.