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Long γ-ray bursts and core-collapse supernovae have different environments

Nature volume 441, pages 463–468 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

When massive stars exhaust their fuel, they collapse and often produce the extraordinarily bright explosions known as core-collapse supernovae. On occasion, this stellar collapse also powers an even more brilliant relativistic explosion known as a long-duration γ-ray burst. One would then expect that these long γ-ray bursts and core-collapse supernovae should be found in similar galactic environments. Here we show that this expectation is wrong. We find that the γ-ray bursts are far more concentrated in the very brightest regions of their host galaxies than are the core-collapse supernovae. Furthermore, the host galaxies of the long γ-ray bursts are significantly fainter and more irregular than the hosts of the core-collapse supernovae. Together these results suggest that long-duration γ-ray bursts are associated with the most extremely massive stars and may be restricted to galaxies of limited chemical evolution. Our results directly imply that long γ-ray bursts are relatively rare in galaxies such as our own Milky Way.

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Figure 1: A mosaic of GRB host galaxies imaged by HST.
Figure 2: A mosaic of core-collapse supernova host galaxies imaged with HST as part of the GOODS programme.
Figure 3: The locations of the explosions in comparison to the host light.
Figure 4: A comparison of the absolute magnitude and size distributions of the GRB and supernova hosts.

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Acknowledgements

Support for this research was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. Observations analysed in this work were taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope under programmes: 7785, 7863, 7966, 8189, 8588, 9074 and 9405 (Principal Investigator, A.S.F.); 7964, 8688, 9180 and 10135 (PI, S. R. Kulkarni); 8640 (PI, S.T.H.). We thank N. Panagia, N. Walborn and A. Soderberg for conversations; A. Filippenko and collaborators for early-time images of GRB 980326; and J. Bloom and collaborators for making public their early observations of GRB 020322.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, 3700 San Martin Drive, Maryland, 21218, USA

    A. S. Fruchter, A. J. Levan, L. Strolger, D. Bersier, I. Burud, J. M. Castro Cerón, H. C. Ferguson, R. A. Gibbons, J. Gorosabel, Z. Levay, M. Livio, L. Petro, J. E. Rhoads, A. G. Riess & K. C. Sahu

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, University Road, LE1 7RH, Leicester, UK

    A. J. Levan

  3. Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, College Lane, AL10 9AB, UK

    A. J. Levan & N. R. Tanvir

  4. Physics & Astronomy, TCCW 246, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, 1 Big Red Way, Kentucky, 42101, USA

    L. Strolger

  5. Astronomy, TCCW 246, Western Kentucky University, 1 Big Red Way

    L. Strolger

  6. European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Casilla, Santiago, 19001, Chile

    P. M. Vreeswijk & A. Smette

  7. Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of California, 1156 High Street, California, 95064, Santa Cruz, USA

    S. E. Thorsett & S. E. Woosley

  8. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Birkenhead, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, CH41 1LD, UK

    D. Bersier

  9. Norwegian Meteorological Institute, PO Box 43, Blindern, N-0313, Oslo, Norway

    I. Burud

  10. Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DK-2100, Denmark

    J. M. Castro Cerón, J. P. U. Fynbo & J. Hjorth

  11. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Granada, Camino Bajo de Huétor, 50, 18008, Spain

    A. J. Castro-Tirado & J. Gorosabel

  12. California Institute of Technology, Mail Code 105-24, California, 91125, Pasadena, USA

    C. Conselice

  13. School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, University Park, NG7 2RD, UK

    C. Conselice

  14. Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Sweden

    T. Dahlen

  15. Physics Department, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, 225 Nieuwland Hall, Indiana, 46556, USA

    P. M. Garnavich

  16. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, 6301 Stevenson Center, Nashville, Tennessee, 37235, USA

    R. A. Gibbons

  17. Code 667, Extraterrestial Planets and Stellar Astrophysics, Exploration of the Universe Division,

    T. R. Gull

  18. Code 660.1, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, 20771, USA

    S. T. Holland

  19. NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, VP-62, National Space Science & Technology Center, 320 Sparkman Drive, Alabama, 35805, Huntsville, USA

    C. Kouveliotou

  20. Technology Center, 320 Sparkman Drive

    C. Kouveliotou

  21. Renaissance Technologies Corporation, East Setauket, 600 Route 25A, New York, 11733, USA

    M. R. Metzger

  22. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, MS 50F-1650, Berkeley, 1 Cyclotron Road, California, 94720, USA

    P. E. Nugent

  23. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34131, Trieste, Italy

    E. Pian

  24. Astronomical Institute ‘Anton Pannekoek’, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Kruislaan 403, NL-1098 SJ, The Netherlands

    R. A. M. J. Wijers

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Correspondence to A. S. Fruchter.

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Supplementary Notes

This file contains Supplementary Methods providing additional detail on the analysis. A Supplementary Notes section gives further detail on sample bias. Supplementary Tables provide details on the observations of the objects in the sample and Supplementary Figures show how the extent of the hosts as determined by our analysis and the placement of the objects on the hosts. (PDF 417 kb)

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Fruchter, A., Levan, A., Strolger, L. et al. Long γ-ray bursts and core-collapse supernovae have different environments. Nature 441, 463–468 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04787

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