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Paper: GRB 011121: Jet, Wind and Supernova--All in One
Volume: 312, Third Rome Workshop on Gamma-Ray Bursts in the Afterglow Era
Page: 263
Authors: Greiner, J.; Klose, S.; Salvato, M.; Zeh, A.; Schwarz, R.; Hartmann, D.H.; Masetti, N.; Stecklum, B.; Lamer, G.; Lodieu, N.; Scholz, R.D.; Sterken, C.; Gorosabel, J.; Burud, I.; Rhoads, J.; Mitrofanov, I.; Litvak, M.; Sanin, A.; Grinkov, V.; Andersen, M.I.; Castro Ceron, J.M.; Castro-Tirado, A.J.; Fruchter, A.; Fynbo, J.U.; Hjorth, J.; Kaper, L.; Kouveliotou, C.; Palazzi, E.; Pian, E.; Rol, E.; Salamanca, I.; Tanvir, N.R.; Vreeswijk, P.M.; Wijers, R.A.M.J.; van den Heuvel, E.
Abstract: We report optical and near-infrared follow-up observations of GRB 011121. We discover a break in the afterglow light curve after 1.3 days, which implies and initial jet opening angle of ~9°. The jet origin of this break is supported by the achromatic spectral energy distribution. During later phases, GRB 011121 shows significant excess emission above the flux predicted by a power law decline, interpreted as light from an underlying supernova. The deduced parameters for the decay slope as well as the spectral index favor a wind scenario, i.e. an outflow into a circum-burst environment shaped by the stellar wind of a massive GRB progenitor. Due to its low redshift of z=0.36, GRB 011121 is so far the best example for the GRB-supernova connection, and provides compelling evidence for a circum-burster wind region expected to exist if the progenitor was a massive star.
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