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Soft X-ray prompt emission from a high-redshift gamma-ray burst EP240315a
- Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are believed to originate from core collapse of massive stars. High-redshift GRBs can probe the star formation and reionization history of the early universe, but their detection remains rare. Here we report the detection of a GRB triggered in the 0.5--4 keV band by the Wide-field X-ray Telescope (WXT) on board the Einstein Probe (EP) mission, designated as EP240315a, whose bright peak was also detected by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope and Konus-Wind through off-line analyses. At a redshift of $z=4.859$, EP240315a showed a much longer and more complicated light curve in the soft X-ray band than in gamma-rays. Benefiting from a large field-of-view ($\sim$3600 deg$^2$) and a high sensitivity, EP-WXT captured the earlier engine activation and extended late engine activity through a continuous detection. With a peak X-ray flux at the faint end of previously known high-$z$ GRBs, the detection of EP240315a demonstrates the great potential for EP to study the early universe via GRBs.<br />Comment: 41 pages, 8 figures, 7 tables
- Subjects :
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.2404.16425
- Document Type :
- Working Paper