HST/STIS Imaging of the Host Galaxy of GRB 980425/SN1998bw 1

/ Authors

J. Fynbo, S. Holland, M. Andersen, B. Thomsen, J. Hjorth, G. Bjornsson, A. Jaunsen, P. Natarajan, N. Copenhagen, U. Aarhus

and 6 more authors

U. Oulu, University of Iceland, U. Oslo, C. University, Yale University, U. Hertfordshire

/ Abstract

We present HST/STIS observations of ESO 184-G82, the host galaxy of the gamma-ray burst GRB 980425 associated with the peculiar Type Ic supernova SN1998bw. ESO 184-G82 is found to be an actively star forming SBc sub-luminous galaxy. We detect an object consistent with being a point source within the astrometric uncertainty of 0.018 arcseconds of the position of the supernova. The object is located inside a star-forming region and is at least one magnitude brighter than expected for the supernova based on a simple radioactive decay model. This implies either a significant flattening of the light curve or a contribution from an underlying star cluster.

Journal: arXiv: Astrophysics

DOI: 10.1086/312942