First joint absorption and T$_e$-based metallicity measured in a GRB host galaxy at $z=4.28$ using JWST/NIRSpec

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Inkenhaag, Anne, Schady, Patricia, Wiseman, Phil, Yates, Robert M., Arabsalmani, Maryam, Christensen, Lise, D'Elia, Valerio, De Pasquale, Massimiliano, García-Benito, Rubén, Hartmann, Dieter H., Jakobsson, Páll, Laskar, Tanmoy, Levan, Andrew J., Pugliese, Giovanna, Rossi, Andrea, Salvaterra, Ruben, Savaglio, Sandra, Sbarufatti, Boris, Starling, Rhaana L. C., Tanvir, Nial, Topçu, Berk, Vergani, Susanna D., Wiersema, Klaas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Inkenhaag, Anne
Schady, Patricia
Wiseman, Phil
Yates, Robert M.
Arabsalmani, Maryam
Christensen, Lise
D'Elia, Valerio
De Pasquale, Massimiliano
García-Benito, Rubén
Hartmann, Dieter H.
Jakobsson, Páll
Laskar, Tanmoy
Levan, Andrew J.
Pugliese, Giovanna
Rossi, Andrea
Salvaterra, Ruben
Savaglio, Sandra
Sbarufatti, Boris
Starling, Rhaana L. C.
Tanvir, Nial
Topçu, Berk
Vergani, Susanna D.
Wiersema, Klaas
author_facet Inkenhaag, Anne
Schady, Patricia
Wiseman, Phil
Yates, Robert M.
Arabsalmani, Maryam
Christensen, Lise
D'Elia, Valerio
De Pasquale, Massimiliano
García-Benito, Rubén
Hartmann, Dieter H.
Jakobsson, Páll
Laskar, Tanmoy
Levan, Andrew J.
Pugliese, Giovanna
Rossi, Andrea
Salvaterra, Ruben
Savaglio, Sandra
Sbarufatti, Boris
Starling, Rhaana L. C.
Tanvir, Nial
Topçu, Berk
Vergani, Susanna D.
Wiersema, Klaas
contents We present the first gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxy with a measured absorption line and electron temperature (T$_e$) based metallicity, using the temperature sensitive [OIII]$λ$4363 auroral line detected in the JWST/NIRSpec spectrum of the host of GRB 050505 at redshift $z=4.28$. We find that the metallicity of the cold interstellar gas, derived from the absorption lines in the GRB afterglow, of 12 + log(O/H)$\sim 7.7$ is in reasonable agreement with the temperature-based emission line metallicity in the warm gas of the GRB host galaxy, which has values of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.80$\pm$0.19 and 7.96$\pm$0.21 for two common indicators. When using strong emission line diagnostics appropriate for high-z galaxies and sensitive to ionisation parameter, we find good agreement between the strong emission line metallicity and the other two methods. Our results imply that, for the host of GRB050505, mixing between the warm and the cold ISM along the line of sight to the GRB is efficient, and that GRB afterglow absorption lines can be a reliable tracer of the metallicity of the galaxy. If confirmed with a large sample, this suggest that metallicities determined via GRB afterglow spectroscopy can be used to trace cosmic chemical evolution to the earliest cosmic epochs and in galaxies far too faint for emission line spectroscopy, even for JWST.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_08114
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle First joint absorption and T$_e$-based metallicity measured in a GRB host galaxy at $z=4.28$ using JWST/NIRSpec
Inkenhaag, Anne
Schady, Patricia
Wiseman, Phil
Yates, Robert M.
Arabsalmani, Maryam
Christensen, Lise
D'Elia, Valerio
De Pasquale, Massimiliano
García-Benito, Rubén
Hartmann, Dieter H.
Jakobsson, Páll
Laskar, Tanmoy
Levan, Andrew J.
Pugliese, Giovanna
Rossi, Andrea
Salvaterra, Ruben
Savaglio, Sandra
Sbarufatti, Boris
Starling, Rhaana L. C.
Tanvir, Nial
Topçu, Berk
Vergani, Susanna D.
Wiersema, Klaas
Astrophysics of Galaxies
We present the first gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxy with a measured absorption line and electron temperature (T$_e$) based metallicity, using the temperature sensitive [OIII]$λ$4363 auroral line detected in the JWST/NIRSpec spectrum of the host of GRB 050505 at redshift $z=4.28$. We find that the metallicity of the cold interstellar gas, derived from the absorption lines in the GRB afterglow, of 12 + log(O/H)$\sim 7.7$ is in reasonable agreement with the temperature-based emission line metallicity in the warm gas of the GRB host galaxy, which has values of 12 + log(O/H) = 7.80$\pm$0.19 and 7.96$\pm$0.21 for two common indicators. When using strong emission line diagnostics appropriate for high-z galaxies and sensitive to ionisation parameter, we find good agreement between the strong emission line metallicity and the other two methods. Our results imply that, for the host of GRB050505, mixing between the warm and the cold ISM along the line of sight to the GRB is efficient, and that GRB afterglow absorption lines can be a reliable tracer of the metallicity of the galaxy. If confirmed with a large sample, this suggest that metallicities determined via GRB afterglow spectroscopy can be used to trace cosmic chemical evolution to the earliest cosmic epochs and in galaxies far too faint for emission line spectroscopy, even for JWST.
title First joint absorption and T$_e$-based metallicity measured in a GRB host galaxy at $z=4.28$ using JWST/NIRSpec
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.08114