JWST detection of a supernova associated with GRB 221009A without an r-process signature.

ABSTRACT: Identifying the sites of r-process nucleosynthesis, a primary mechanism of heavy element production, is a key goal of astrophysics. The discovery of the brightest gamma-ray burst (GRB) to date, GRB 221009A, presented an opportunity to spectroscopically test the idea that r-process elements are produced following the collapse of rapidly rotating massive stars. Here we present James Webb Space Telescope observations of GRB 221009A obtained +168 and +170 rest-frame days after the gamma-ray trigger, and demonstrate that they are well described by a SN 1998bw-like supernova (SN) and power-law afterglow, with no evidence for a component from r-process emission. The SN, with a nickel mass of approximately 0.09 M _⊙, is only slightly fainter than the brightness of SN 1998bw at thi

SUBMITTER: Blanchard PK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11189819 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature