NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
The Discovery of an Evolving Dust Scattered X-ray Halo Around GRB 031203We report the first detection of a time-dependent, dust-scattered X-ray halo around a gamma-ray burst. GRB3 031203 was observed by XMM-Newton starting six hours after the burst. The halo appeared as concentric ring-like structures centered on the GRB location. The radii of these structures increased with time as t(sup 1/2), consistent with small-angle X-ray scattering caused by a large column of dust along the line of sight to a cosmologically distant GRB. The rings are due to dust concentrated in two distinct slabs in the Galaxy located at distances of 880 and 1390 pc, consistent with known Galactic features. The halo brightness implies an initial soft X-ray pulse consistent with the observed GRB.
Document ID
20040081205
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Vaughan, S. (Leicester Univ. United Kingdom)
Willingale, R. (Leicester Univ. United Kingdom)
OBrien, P. T. (Leicester Univ. United Kingdom)
Osborne, J. P. (Leicester Univ. United Kingdom)
Reeves, J. N. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Levan, A. J. (Leicester Univ. United Kingdom)
Watson, M. G. (Leicester Univ. United Kingdom)
Tedds, J. A. (Leicester Univ. United Kingdom)
Watson, D. (Copenhagen Univ. Denmark)
Santos-Lleo, M. (European Space Agency Villafranca, Spain)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2003
Subject Category
Astronomy
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: CEC-HPRN-CT-2002-00294
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available