Photospheric emission throughout GRB 100507 detected by Fermi

TL;DR

This paper reports the detection of a gamma-ray burst, GRB 100507, with a pure blackbody spectrum throughout its prompt emission, providing insights into the fireball model and the physical conditions at the emission site.

Contribution

First observation of a GRB with a consistent blackbody spectrum during the entire prompt phase, expanding understanding of thermal emission in gamma-ray bursts.

Findings

GRB 100507 exhibits a pure blackbody spectrum for ~30 seconds.

Blackbody temperature varies between 25 and 40 keV.

Estimated emission radius R_T and Lorentz factor Gamma_T suggest large initial fireball radii.

Abstract

Gamma ray bursts with blackbody spectra are only a few and in most cases this spectral component is accompanied by a dominating non-thermal one. Only four bursts detected by Batse have a pure blackbody spectrum throughout their duration. We present the new case of GRB 100507 detected by the Gamma Burst Monitor on board the Fermi satellite. GRB 100507 has a blackbody spectrum for the entire duration (~30 s) of the prompt emission. The blackbody temperature varies between 25 and 40 keV. The flux varies between 1e-7 and 4e-7 erg/cm2 s. There is no clear evidence of a correlation between the temperature and the blackbody flux. If the thermal emission in GRB 100507 is due to the fireballs becoming transparent, we can estimate the radius R_T and bulk Lorentz factor Gamma_T corresponding to this transition and the radius R_0 where the fireballs are created. We compare these parameters with those derived for the other four bursts with a pure blackbody spectrum. In all but one burst, for fiducial assumptions on the radiative efficiency and distance of the sources, R_0~1e9-1e10 cm, i.e. much larger than the gravitational radius of a few solar mass black hole. Possible solutions of this apparent inconsistency are tentatively discussed considering the dependence of R_0 on the unknown parameters. Alternatively, such a large R_0 could be where the fireball, still opaque, converts most of its kinetic energy into internal energy (due to the impact with some material left over by the progenitor star) and starts to re-accelerate.