A Corsi

Publications (5)5.53 Total impact

• Article: Evidence for Dust Destruction from the Early-time Colour Change of GRB 120119A

  Adam N. Morgan, D. A. Perley, S. B. Cenko, J. S. Bloom, A. Cucchiara, J. W. Richards, A. V. Filippenko, J. B. Haislip, A. LaCluyze, A. Corsi, A. Melandri, B. E. Cobb, A. Gomboc, A. Horesh, B. James, W. Li, C. G. Mundell, D. E. Reichart, I. Steele
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: We present broadband observations and analysis of Swift gamma-ray burst (GRB) 120119A. Our early-time afterglow detections began under 15 s after the burst in the host frame (redshift z = 1.73), and they yield constraints on the burst energetics and local environment. Late-time afterglow observations of the burst show evidence for a moderate column of dust (A_V ~ 1.1 mag) similar to, but statistically distinct from, dust seen along Small Magellanic Cloud sightlines. Deep late-time observations reveal a dusty, rapidly star-forming host galaxy. Most notably, our early-time observations exhibit a significant red-to-blue colour change in the first ~200 s after the trigger at levels heretofore unseen in GRB afterglows. This colour change, which is coincident with the final phases of the prompt emission, is a hallmark prediction of the photodestruction of dust in GRB afterglows. We test whether dust-destruction signatures are significantly distinct from other sources of colour change, namely a change in the intrinsic spectral index {\beta}. We find that a time-varying power-law spectrum alone cannot adequately describe the observed colour change, and allowing for dust destruction (via a time-varying A_V) significantly improves the fit. While not definitively ruling out other possibilities, this event provides the best support yet for the direct detection of dust destruction in the local environment of a GRB.
  05/2013;
• Article: X-ray emission from supernovae in dense circumstellar matter environments: A search for collisionless shocks

  E. O. Ofek, D. Fox, S. B. Cenko, M. Sullivan, O. Gnat, D. A. Frail, A. Horesh, A. Corsi, R. M. Quimby, N. Gehrels, [......], A. V. Filippenko, M. M. Kasliwal, L. Bildsten, J. S. Bloom, D. Poznanski, I. Arcavi, R. R. Laher, D. Levitan, B. Sesar, J. Surace
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: (Abridged). The optical light curve of some SNe may be powered by the outward diffusion of the energy deposited by the explosion shock in optically thick circumstellar matter (CSM). Recently, it was shown that the radiation-mediated and -dominated shock in an optically thick wind must transform into a collisionless shock and can produce hard X-rays. The X-rays are expected to peak at late times, relative to maximum visible light. Here we report on a search, using Swift and Chandra, for X-ray emission from 28 SNe that belong to classes whose progenitors are suspected to be embedded in dense CSM (IIn/Ibn/SLSN-I). Two SNe in our sample have X-ray properties that are roughly consistent with the expectation for X-rays from a collisionless shock in optically thick CSM. Therefore, we suggest that their optical light curves are powered by shock breakout in CSM. We show that two other events were too X-ray bright during the SN maximum optical light to be explained by the shock breakout model. We conclude that the light curves of some, but not all, type-IIn/Ibn SNe are powered by shock breakout in CSM. For the rest of the SNe in our sample, including all the SLSN-I events, our X-ray limits are not deep enough and were typically obtained at too early times to conclude about their nature. We argue that the optical light curves of SNe, for which the X-ray emission peaks at late times, are likely powered by the diffusion of shock energy from a dense CSM. We comment about the possibility to detect some of these events in radio.
  06/2012;
• Source

  Available from: ArXiv

  Article: Evidence for a Compact Wolf-Rayet Progenitor for the Type Ic Supernova PTF 10vgv

  A. Corsi, E. O. Ofek, A. Gal-Yam, D. A. Frail, D. Poznanski, P. A. Mazzali, S. R. Kulkarni, M. M. Kasliwal, I. Arcavi, S. Ben-Ami, [......], I. K. W. Kleiser, E. Nakar, I. Rabinak, R. Sari, J. M. Silverman, D. Xu, J. S. Bloom, N. M. Law, P. E. Nugent, and R. M. Quimby
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: We present the discovery of PTF 10vgv, a Type Ic supernova (SN) detected by the Palomar Transient Factory, using the Palomar 48 inch telescope (P48). R-band observations of the PTF 10vgv field with P48 probe the SN emission from its very early phases (about two weeks before R-band maximum) and set limits on its flux in the week prior to the discovery. Our sensitive upper limits and early detections constrain the post-shock-breakout luminosity of this event. Via comparison to numerical (analytical) models, we derive an upper-limit of R 4.5 R ☉ (R 1 R ☉) on the radius of the progenitor star, a direct indication in favor of a compact Wolf-Rayet star. Applying a similar analysis to the historical observations of SN 1994I yields R 1/4 R ☉ for the progenitor radius of this SN.
  The Astrophysical Journal Letters 02/2012; 747(1):L5. · 5.53 Impact Factor
• Source

  Available from: Arne Rau

  Article: PTF 10bzf (SN 2010ah): a broad-line Ic supernova discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory

  A Corsi, E. O. Ofek, D. A. Frail, D. Poznanski, I. Arcavi, A. Gal-Yam, S. R. Kulkarni, K. Hurley, P. A. Mazzali, D. A. Howell, [......], P. Nugent, R. M. Quimby, V. Pal'shin, J. Cummings, V. Connaughton, K Yamaoka, A. Rau, W. Boynton, I. Mitrofanov, J. Goldsten
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: We present the discovery and follow-up observations of a broad-line type-Ic supernova (SN), PTF 10bzf (SN 2010ah), detected by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) on 2010 February 23. The SN distance is \cong 218 Mpc, greater than GRB 980425 / SN 1998bw and GRB 060218 / SN 2006aj, but smaller than the other SNe firmly associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We conducted a multi-wavelength follow-up campaign with Palomar-48 inch, Palomar 60-inch, Gemini-N, Keck, Wise, Swift, the Allen Telescope Array, CARMA, WSRT, and EVLA. Here we compare the properties of PTF 10bzf with those of SN 1998bw and other broad-line SNe. The optical luminosity and spectral properties of PTF 10bzf suggest that this SN is intermediate, in kinetic energy and amount of 56Ni, between non GRB-associated SNe like 2002ap or 1997ef, and GRB-associated SNe like 1998bw. No X-ray or radio counterpart to PTF 10bzf was detected. X-ray upper-limits allow us to exclude the presence of an underlying X-ray afterglow as luminous as that of other SN-associated GRBs like GRB 030329 or GRB 031203. Early-time radio upper-limits do not show evidence for mildly-relativistic ejecta. Late-time radio upper-limits rule out the presence of an underlying off-axis GRB, with energy and wind density similar to the SN-associated GRB 030329 and GRB 031203. Finally, by performing a search for a GRB in the time window and at the position of PTF 10bzf, we find that no GRB in the IPN catalog could be associated with this SN.
  01/2011;
• Article: EVLA Observations of PTF10vgv

  A. Corsi, E. O. Ofek, D. A. Frail, M. M. Kasliwal, A. Gal-Yam, S. R. Kulkarni, Ptf Collaboration
  [show abstract] [hide abstract]
  ABSTRACT: We used the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) to observe the field of PTF10vgv (ATEL#2914) under our NRAO Target Of Opportunity program "Exploring Transients in the Local Universe". The EVLA observations were made on October 7.16 UT. We observed the source along with the necessary calibrators, simultaneously at frequencies of 4495 MHz and 7915 MHz for a total of 30 minutes. We detect no radio emission from the position of PTF10vgv to a 3-sigma limit of 120 uJy (4495 MHz) and 102 uJy (7915 MHz).
  The Astronomer's Telegram. 09/2010; 2915:1.