GRB 010222: A Burst within a Starburst

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© 2002. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, , Citation D. A. Frail et al 2002 ApJ 565 829 DOI 10.1086/324718

0004-637X/565/2/829

Abstract

We present millimeter- and submillimeter-wavelength observations and near-infrared K-band imaging toward the bright gamma-ray burst GRB 010222. Over seven different epochs, a constant source was detected with an average flux density of 3.74 ± 0.53 mJy at 350 GHz and 1.05 ± 0.22 mJy at 250 GHz, giving a spectral index α = 3.78 ± 0.25 (where F ∝ να). We rule out the possibility that this emission originated from the burst or its afterglow, and we conclude that it is due to a dusty, high-redshift starburst galaxy (SMM J14522+4301). We argue that the host galaxy of GRB 010222 is the most plausible counterpart of SMM J14522+4301, based in part on the centimeter detection of the host at the expected level. The optical/near-IR properties of the host galaxy of GRB 010222 suggest that it is a blue sub-L* galaxy, similar to other GRB host galaxies. This contrasts with the enormous far-infrared luminosity of this galaxy based on our submillimeter detection (LBol ≈ 4 × 1012 L). We suggest that this GRB host galaxy has a very high star formation rate, SFR ≈ 600 M yr-1, most of which is unseen at optical wavelengths.

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10.1086/324718