
Rahul GuptaAryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences | ARIES · Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
Rahul Gupta
Master of Science
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63
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Introduction
I am Rahul Gupta, currently working as SRF at the Department of Astronomy, Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences, India. My research work is mainly focused on time-domain astronomy (towards Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows, Supernovae (SNe), and other transients) based on data from across the electromagnetic band. Presently, I am interested in prompt emission (Gamma and X-rays) spectro-polarimetric studies of GRBs using AstroSat CZTI observations.
Additional affiliations
Education
July 2015 - June 2017
Publications
Publications (63)
We present and perform a detailed analysis of multi-wavelength observations of \thisgrb, an optical bright GRB with an observed reverse shock (RS) signature. Observations of this GRB were acquired with the BOOTES-4 robotic telescope, the \fermi, and the \swift missions. Time-resolved spectroscopy of the prompt emission shows that changes to the pea...
Optical follow-up observations of optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts are crucial to probe the geometry of outflows, emission mechanisms, energetics, and burst environments. We performed the follow-up observations of GRB 210205A and ZTF21aaeyldq (AT2021any) using the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) around one day after the burst to deeper...
Multi-pulsed GRB 190530A, detected by the GBM and LAT onboard Fermi, is the sixth most fluent GBM burst detected so far. This paper presents the timing, spectral, and polarimetric analysis of the prompt emission observed using AstroSat and Fermi to provide insight into the prompt emission radiation mechanisms. The time-integrated spectrum shows con...
Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) aboard AstroSat has been regularly detecting Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) since its launch in 2015. Its sensitivity to polarization measurements at energies above 100 keV allows CZTI to attempt spectro-polarimetric studies of GRBs. Here, we present the first catalog of GRB polarization measurements made by CZTI durin...
Dark GRBs constitute a significant fraction of the GRB population. In this paper, we present the multiwavelength analysis of an intense two-episodic GRB 150309A observed early on to ~114 days post-burst. Despite the strong gamma-ray emission, no optical afterglow was detected for this burst. However, we discovered near-infrared afterglow (KS-band),...
India has been actively involved in the follow-up observations of optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) for more than two decades, using the country's meter-class facilities such as the 1.04 m Sampurnanand Telescope, 1.3 m Devasthal Fast Optical Telescope, 2.01 m Himalayan Chandra Telescope along with many others in the country, utilizing t...
In this proceeding, we present the 1-dimensional stellar evolution of two rotating population III (Pop III) star models, each having a mass of 25 M$_{\odot}$ at the zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS). The slowly rotating model has an initial angular rotational velocity of 10 per cent of the critical angular rotational velocity. In contrast, the rapidly...
We report the discovery of Swift J221951-484240 (hereafter: J221951), a luminous slow-evolving blue transient that was detected by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory Ultra-violet/Optical Telescope (Swift/UVOT) during the follow-up of Gravitational Wave alert S190930t, to which it is unrelated. Swift/UVOT photometry shows the UV spectral energy dist...
The 4K × 4K CCD Imager is the first light instrument for the 3.6[Formula: see text]m Devasthal Optical Telescope and is producing broad-band imaging observations of many Galactic and extra-galactic sources since 2015–2016. Capabilities of the CCD Imager are demonstrated recently through several publications using the well-calibrated multi-band deep...
The 4Kx4K CCD Imager is the first light instrument for the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope and is producing broad-band imaging observations of many Galactic and extra-galactic sources since 2015-2016. Capabilities of the CCD Imager are demonstrated recently through several publications using the well-calibrated multi-band deep photometric results...
In this Letter, we report the outcomes of 1-D modelling of a rotating 25 M⊙ zero-age main-sequence Population III star up to the stage of the onset of core collapse. Rapidly rotating models display violent and sporadic mass losses after the Main-Sequence stage. In comparison to the solar metallicity model, Pop III models show very small pre-superno...
In this Letter, we report the outcomes of 1-D modelling of a rotating 25 M zero-age main-sequence Population III star up to the stage of the onset of core collapse. Rapidly rotating models display violent and sporadic mass losses after the Main-Sequence stage. In comparison to the solar metallicity model, Pop III models show very small pre-supernov...
We present a detailed prompt emission and early optical afterglow analysis of the two very-high-energy (VHE) detected bursts GRB 201015A and GRB 201216C, and their comparison with a subset of similar bursts. Time-resolved spectral analysis of multistructured GRB 201216C using the Bayesian binning algorithm revealed that during the entire duration o...
We report on detailed multi-wavelength observations and analysis of the very bright and long GRB 210619B, detected by the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) installed on the International Space Station (ISS) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on-board the Fermi mission. Our main goal is to understand the radiation mechanisms and jet co...
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of high-energy radiation arising from energetic cosmic explosions. Bursts of long (greater than two seconds) duration are produced by the core-collapse of massive stars¹, and those of short (less than two seconds) duration by the merger of compact objects, such as two neutron stars². A third class of events with...
Gamma-ray bursts are traditionally classified as short and long bursts based on their \(T_{90}\) value (the time interval during which an instrument observes 5% to 95% of gamma-ray/hard X-ray fluence). However, \(T_{90}\) is dependent on the detector sensitivity and the energy range in which the instrument operates. As a result, different instrumen...
In this work, we employ two publicly available analysis tools to study four hydrogen (H)–stripped core–collapse supernovae (CCSNe), namely, SN 2009jf, iPTF13bvn, SN 2015ap and SN 2016bau. We use the modular open-source fitter for transients (MOSFiT) to model the multi-band light curves. MOSFiT analyses show ejecta masses (\(\log M_{ej}\)) of \(0.80...
We present a detailed prompt emission and early optical afterglow analysis of the two very high energy (VHE) detected bursts GRB 201015A and GRB 201216C, and their comparison with a subset of similar bursts. Time-resolved spectral analysis of multi-structured GRB 201216C using the Bayesian binning algorithm revealed that during the entire duration...
We present late-time optical follow-up observations of GRB 171010A/SN 2017htp (z = 0.33) and low-luminosity GRB 171205A/SN 2017iuk (z = 0.037) acquired using the 4K×4K CCD Imager mounted at the 3.6 m Devasthal Optical Telescope (3.6 m DOT) along with the prompt emission data analysis of these two interesting bursts. The prompt characteristics (othe...
In this article, we present multi-band photometric observations and analysis of the host galaxies for a sample of five interesting gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed using the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) and the back-end instruments. The host galaxy observations of GRBs provide unique opportunities to estimate the stellar mass, ages, star-...
In this paper, we present multi-band photometric observations and analysis of the host galaxies for a sample of five interesting gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) observed using the 3.6m Devasthal optical telescope (DOT) and the back-end instruments. The host galaxy observations of GRBs provide unique opportunities to estimate the stellar mass, ages, star-fo...
The first catalogue of GRB polarization measurements was made by CZTI during its first five years of operation. This presents the time-integrated polarization measurements of the prompt emission of 20 GRBs in the energy rangeMajority of the GRBs in the sample are found to possess less / null polarization across the total bursts’ duration in contras...
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of high-energy radiation arising from energetic cosmic explosions. Bursts of long (>2 s) duration are produced by the core-collapse of massive stars, those of short (< 2 s) duration by the merger of two neutron stars (NSs). A third class of events with hybrid high-energy properties was identified, but never concl...
The Cadmium Zinc Telluride Imager (CZTI) on board AstroSat has been regularly detecting gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) since its launch in 2015. Its sensitivity to polarization measurements at energies above 100 keV allows CZTI to attempt spectropolarimetric studies of GRBs. Here, we present the first catalog of GRB polarization measurements made by CZTI...
In this work, photometric and spectroscopic analyses of a very low-luminosity Type IIb supernova (SN) 2016iyc have been performed. SN 2016iyc lies near the faint end among the distribution of similar supernovae (SNe). Given lower ejecta mass (Mej) and low nickel mass (MNi) from the literature, combined with SN 2016iyc lying near the faint end, one-...
In this work, photometric and spectroscopic analyses of a very low-luminosity Type IIb supernova (SN) 2016iyc have been performed. SN 2016iyc lies near the faint end among the distribution of similar supernovae (SNe). Given lower ejecta mass ($M_{\rm ej}$) and low nickel mass ($M_{\rm Ni}$) from the literature, combined with SN 2016iyc lying near t...
The emission processes responsible for the prompt emission of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are still an open question. Besides temporal and spectral properties, hard X-ray/ gamma-ray polarization measurement is thought to be a powerful tool for probing the radiation mechanisms of GRBs since the emission mechanisms invoked to explain prompt emission are...
We present late-time optical follow-up observations of GRB 171010A/SN 2017htp ($z$ = 0.33) and low-luminosity GRB 171205A/SN 2017iuk ($z$ = 0.037) acquired using the 4K$\times$4K CCD Imager mounted at the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (3.6m DOT) along with the prompt emission data analysis of these two interesting bursts. The prompt characterist...
In this work, we study the synthetic explosions of a massive star. We take a 100 \(M_{\odot }\) zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) star and evolve it until the onset of core-collapse using MESA. Then, the resulting star model is exploded using the publicly available stellar explosion code, STELLA. The outputs of STELLA calculations provide the bolometri...
In this work, we study the synthetic explosions of a massive star. We take a 100 M$_{\odot}$ zero--age main--sequence (ZAMS) star and evolve it until the onset of core-collapse using {\tt MESA}. Then, the resulting star model is exploded using the publicly available stellar explosion code, {\tt STELLA}. The outputs of {\tt STELLA} calculations prov...
In this work, we employ two publicly available analysis tools to study four hydrogen(H)--stripped core--collapse supernovae (CCSNe) namely, SN 2009jf, iPTF13bvn, SN 2015ap, and SN 2016bau. We use the Modular Open-Source Fitter for Transients ({\tt MOSFiT}) to model the multi band light curves. {\tt MOSFiT} analyses show ejecta masses (log M$_{ej}$)...
We report detailed prompt emission observations and analysis of the very bright and long GRB 210619B, detected by the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) installed on the International Space Station ({\it ISS}) and the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on-board the Fermi mission. Our main goal is to understand the radiation mechanisms and jet...
We present results from extensive broadband follow-up of GRB 210204A over the period of thirty days. We detect optical flares in the afterglow at 7.6 x 10^5 s and 1.1 x 10^6 s after the burst: the most delayed flaring ever detected in a GRB afterglow. At the source redshift of 0.876, the rest-frame delay is 5.8 x 10^5 s (6.71 d). We investigate pos...
We present the poster titled 'Probing into emission mechanisms of \thisgrb using time-resolved spectra and polarization studies: Synchrotron Origin? In this work, we have explored different aspects of the prompt emission and afterglow of multi-pulsed GRB 190530A (the sixth most fluent GBM burst detected so far) detected by the GBM and LAT and compa...
Gamma-ray bursts are traditionally classified as short and long bursts based on their T90 value (the time interval during which an instrument observes 5% to 95% of gamma-ray/hard X-ray fluence). However, T90 is dependent on the detector sensitivity and the energy range in which the instrument operates. As a result, different instruments provide dif...
Multi-pulsed GRB 190530A, detected by the GBM and LAT onboard \fermi, is the sixth most fluent GBM burst detected so far. This paper presents the timing, spectral, and polarimetric analysis of the prompt emission observed using \AstroSat and \fermi to provide insight into the prompt emission radiation mechanisms. The time-integrated spectrum shows...
Optical follow-up observations of optical afterglows of gamma-ray bursts are crucial to probe the geometry of outflows, emission mechanisms, energetics, and burst environments. We performed the follow-up observations of GRB 210205A and ZTF21aaeyldq (AT2021any) using the 3.6m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) around one day after the burst to deeper...
H-deficient superluminous supernovae (SLSNe I) are nearly 2-3 magnitudes brighter than the classical core-collapse SNe (CCSNe), radiating total energy of the order of 10 51 erg and exhibiting characteristic W-shaped O II features towards blue in the near-peak spectra (Quimby et al. 2011, Natur, 474, 487, Nicholl 2021, A&G, 62, 5.34). SLSNe I appear...
Giant flares (GFs) are unusual bursts from soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) that release an enormous amount of energy in a fraction of a second. The afterglow emission of these SGR-GFs or GF candidates is a highly beneficial means of discerning their composition, relativistic speed, and emission mechanisms. GRB 200415A is a recent GF candidate obser...
Newly installed 3.6m DOT at Nainital (Uttarakhand) is a novel facility for the time domain astronomy. Because of the longitudinal advantage of India, it could be used to study new transients reported by a global network of robotic telescopes. Observations with the 4K × 4K CCD Imager at the axial port of the 3.6m DOT will be very helpful in the near...
We explore the study of energetic transients including core-collapse supernovae using various publicly available analysis tools like MESA & SNEC, MOSFiT and SNCOSMO. We used MESA to evolve a star having zero age main sequence mass (Mzams) of 24 M⊙ until the onset of core-collapse. Then we exploded this model using openly available explosion codes,...
Optical, near-infrared (NIR) photometric and spectroscopic studies along with the optical imaging polarimetric results for SN 2012au to constrain the nature of the progenitor and other properties are presented in this paper. Well-calibrated multi-band optical photometric data (from -0.2 to +413 d since B-band maximum) was used to compute the bolome...
Photometric and spectroscopic analyses of the intermediate-luminosity Type Ib supernova (SN) 2015ap and of the heavily reddened Type Ib SN 2016bau are discussed. Photometric properties of the two SNe, such as colour evolution, bolometric luminosity, photospheric radius, temperature, and velocity evolution, are also constrained. The ejecta mass, syn...
Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are a new class of SNe (2–3 magnitudes brighter than classical SNe) that were recognized about a decade ago (Quimby et al. 2011). SLSNe comprising ∼0.01 per cent of normal core-collapse SNe (CCSNe), and nearly 150 objects have been spectroscopically confirmed so far. Like classical CCSNe, SLSNe are spectroscopically...
We present and perform a detailed analysis of multi-wavelength observations of \thisgrb, an optical bright GRB with an observed reverse shock (RS) signature. Observations of this GRB were acquired with the BOOTES-4 robotic telescope, the \fermi, and the \swift missions. Time-resolved spectroscopy of the prompt emission shows that changes to the pea...
Photometric and spectroscopic analyses of the intermediate-luminosity Type Ib supernova (SN) 2015ap and of the heavily reddened Type Ib SN~2016bau are discussed. Photometric properties of the two SNe, such as colour evolution, bolometric luminosity, photospheric radius, temperature, and velocity evolution, are also constrained. The ejecta mass, syn...
Photometric and spectroscopic analyses of the intermediate-luminosity Type Ib supernova (SN) 2015ap and of the heavily reddened Type Ib SN~2016bau are discussed. Photometric properties of the two SNe, such as colour evolution, bolometric luminosity, photospheric radius, temperature, and velocity evolution, are also constrained. The ejecta mass, syn...
We present radio and optical afterglow observations of the TeV-bright long gamma-ray burst 190114C at a redshift of z = 0.425, which was detected by the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescope. Our observations with Atacama Large Millimeter/submillitmeter Array, Australia Telescope Compact Array, and upgraded Giant Metre-wave Radio Tele...
We investigate the observational properties of a hydrogen-deficient superluminous supernova (SLSN) SN 2020ank (at z = 0.2485), with the help of early phase observations carried out between –21 and +52 d since g-band maximum. Photometrically, SN 2020ank is one of the brightest SLSN (Mg, peak ∼ –21.84 ± 0.10 mag), having fast pre-peak rising and post...
Newly installed 3.6m DOT at Nainital (Uttarakhand) is a novel facility for the time domain astronomy. Because of India's longitudinal advantage, it could be used to study new transients reported by a global network of robotic telescopes. Observations with the 4K×4K CCD Imager at the axial port of the 3.6m DOT will be very helpful in the near future...
We investigate the observational properties of a hydrogen-deficient superluminous supernova (SLSN) SN 2020ank (at z = 0.2485), with the help of early phase observations carried out between $-$21 and +52 d since $g$-band maximum. Photometrically, SN 2020ank is one of the brightest SLSN ($M_{g,peak}$ $\sim$ $-$21.84 $\pm$ 0.10 mag), having fast pre-p...
Aims. Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 190829A ( z = 0.0785) was detected by Fermi and Swift and also at very high energy (VHE) by the High-Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) telescopes. The prompt emission displayed two emission episodes separated by a quiescent gap of ∼40 s. We present the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) observations of the aftergl...
Aims. GRB 190829A (z = 0.0785), detected by Fermi and Swift with two emission episodes separated by a quiescent gap of ~40 s, was also observed by the H.E.S.S. telescopes at Very-High Energy (VHE). We present the 10.4m GTC observations of the afterglow of GRB 190829A and underlying supernova and compare it against a similar GRB 180728A and discuss...
TeV emissions from γ-ray bursts are very important to study their origin and the radiation mechanisms in
detail. Recent observations of TeV photons in some of the GRBs are challenging to be explained by the
traditional Synchrotron radiation mechanism. In this work, we present the results of a detailed investigation
of the prompt and afterglow emiss...
Giant flares (GFs) are unusual bursts from soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) that release an enormous amount of energy in a fraction of a second. The afterglow emission of these SGR-GFs or GF candidates is a highly beneficial means of discerning their composition, relativistic speed, and emission mechanisms. GRB 200415A is a recent GF candidate obser...
We present the results of a detailed investigation of the prompt and afterglow emission in the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.)-detected GRB 190829A. Swift and Fermi observations of the prompt phase of this gamma-ray burst (GRB) reveal two isolated subbursts or episodes, separated by a quiescent phase. The energetic and the spectral prope...
We present the results of a detailed investigation of the prompt and afterglow emission in the HESS detected GRB 190829A. Swift and Fermi observations of the prompt phase of this GRB reveal two isolated sub-bursts or episodes, separated by a quiescent phase. The energetic and the spectral properties of the first episode are in stark contrast to the...
This paper presents data and analysis of SN 2010kd, a low-redshift (z = 0.101) H-deficient superluminous supernova (SLSN), based on ultraviolet/optical photometry and optical spectroscopy spanning between -28 and +194 days relative to B-band maximum light. The B-band light-curve comparison of SN 2010kd with a subset of well-studied SLSNe I at compa...
This paper presents data and analysis of SN 2010kd, a low-redshift ($z = 0.101$) H-deficient superluminous supernova (SLSN), based on ultraviolet/optical photometry and optical spectroscopy spanning between $-$28 and +194 days relative to $\mathit{B}$ band maximum light. The $\mathit{B}$ band light curve comparison of SN 2010kd with a subset of wel...
We investigate the prompt emission and the afterglow properties of short-duration gamma-ray burst (sGRB) 130603B and another eight sGRB events during 2012-2015, observed by several multi-wavelength facilities including the GTC 10.4 m telescope. Prompt emission high energy data of the events were obtained by INT EGRAL-SPI-ACS, S wi f t-BAT and Fermi...
We investigate the prompt emission and the afterglow properties of short duration gamma-ray burst (sGRB) 130603B and another eight sGRB events during 2012-2015, observed by several multi-wavelength facilities including the GTC 10.4m telescope. Prompt emission high energy data of the events were obtained by INTEGRAL/SPI/ACS, Swift/BAT and Fermi/GBM...
We demonstrate the study of energetic transients including core-collapse supernovae using various publicly available analysis tools like MESA & SNEC, MOSFiT and SNCOSMO. We used MESA to evolve a star having zero age main sequence mass (M zams) of 24 M until the onset of core-collapse. Then we exploded this model using openly available explosion cod...