Herschel/PACS Observations of the Host Galaxy of GRB 031203

TL;DR

This study uses Herschel/PACS data to analyze the dust and star formation properties of the GRB 031203 host galaxy, revealing it as a luminous, starbursting dwarf galaxy with unique dust characteristics compared to similar galaxies.

Contribution

First detailed infrared analysis of the GRB 031203 host galaxy, highlighting its starburst nature and distinct dust properties among GRB hosts.

Findings

Infrared luminosity of 3x10^10 L_sun indicating IR-luminous galaxy.

Dust temperature and sSFR comparable to high-redshift IR-detected GRB hosts.

Lower dust-to-stellar mass ratio than typical IR-luminous galaxies.

Abstract

We present Herschel/PACS observations of the nearby (z=0.1055) dwarf galaxy that has hosted the long gamma ray burst (LGRB) 031203. Using the PACS data we have been able to place constraints on the dust temperature, dust mass, total infrared luminosity and infrared-derived star-formation rate (SFR) for this object. We find that the GRB host galaxy (GRBH) 031203 has a total infrared luminosity of 3x10^10 L_sun placing it in the regime of the IR-luminous galaxy population. Its dust temperature and specific SFR are comparable to that of many high-redshift (z=0.3-2.5) infrared (IR)-detected GRB hosts (T_dust>40K ; sSFR>10 Gyr^-1), however its dust-to-stellar mass ratio is lower than what is commonly seen in IR-luminous galaxies. Our results suggest that GRBH 031203 is undergoing a strong starburst episode and its dust properties are different to those of local dwarf galaxies within the same metallicity and stellar mass range. Furthermore, our measurements place it in a distinct class to the well studied nearby host of GRB 980425 (z=0.0085), confirming the notion that GRB host galaxies can span a large range in properties even at similar cosmological epochs, making LGRBs an ideal tool in selecting samples of star-forming galaxies up to high redshift.