The Strongly Polarized Afterglow of GRB 020405*

D. Bersier; B. McLeod; P. M. Garnavich; M. J. Holman; T. Grav; J. Quinn; J. Kaluzny; P. M. Challis; R. G. Bower; D. J. Wilman; J. S. Heyl; S. T. Holland; V. Hradecky; S. Jha; K. Z. Stanek

doi:10.1086/368158

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The Strongly Polarized Afterglow of GRB 020405^*

D. Bersier¹, B. McLeod¹, P. M. Garnavich², M. J. Holman¹, T. Grav¹, J. Quinn², J. Kaluzny³, P. M. Challis¹, R. G. Bower⁴, D. J. Wilman⁴, J. S. Heyl^1,5, S. T. Holland², V. Hradecky¹, S. Jha¹, and K. Z. Stanek¹

Published 2003 January 13 • © 2003. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 583, Number 2 Citation D. Bersier et al 2003 ApJ 583 L63 DOI 10.1086/368158

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Author affiliations

¹ Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

² Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5670

³ Copernicus Astronomical Center, Bartycka 18, PL-00-716 Warsaw, Poland

⁴ Department of Physics, University of Durham, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK

⁵ Chandra Scholar

Dates

Received 2002 June 26
Accepted 2002 December 23
Published 2003 January 13

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Abstract

We report polarization measurements and photometry for the optical afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 020405. We measured a highly significant 9.9% polarization (in V band) 1.3 days after the burst and argue that it is intrinsic to the GRB. The light-curve decay is well fitted by a t^-1.72 power law; we do not see any evidence for a break between 1.24 and 4.3 days after the burst. We discuss these measurements in the light of several models of GRB afterglows.

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Footnotes

*
Based on data from the Multiple Mirror Telescope Observatory, a joint facility of the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona, the 1.8 m Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, the Magellan 6.5 m Walter Baade Telescope, and the 2.5 m du Pont Telescope.

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