Heavy element production in a compact object merger observed by JWST

Abstract

The mergers of binary compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes are of central interest to several areas of astrophysics, including as the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)1, sources of high-frequency gravitational waves (GW)2 and likely production sites for heavy element nucleosynthesis via rapid neutron capture (the r-process)3. Here we present observations of the exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst GRB 230307A. We show that GRB 230307A belongs to the class of long-duration gamma-ray bursts associated with compact object mergers4–6, and contains a kilonova similar to AT2017gfo, associated with the gravitational-wave merger GW1708177–12. We obtained James Webb Space Telescope mid-infrared (mid-IR) imaging and spectroscopy 29 and 61 days after the burst. The spectroscopy shows an emission line at 2.15 microns which we interpret as tellurium (atomic mass A=130), and a very red source, emitting most of its light in the mid-IR due to the production of lanthanides. These observations demonstrate that nucleosynthesis in GRBs can create r-process elements across a broad atomic mass range and play a central role in heavy element nucleosynthesis across the Universe.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Levan, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7821-9369 Gompertz, B.P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5826-0548 Salafia, O.S. Bulla, M. Burns, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2942-3379 Hotokezaka, K. Izzo, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9695-8472 Lamb, G.P. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5169-4143 Malesani, D.B. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7517-326X Oates, S.R. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9309-7873 Ravasio, M.E. Rouco Escorial, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3937-0618 Schneider, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4876-7756 Sarin, N. Schulze, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6797-1889 Tanvir, N.R. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3274-6336 Ackley, K. Anderson, G. Brammer, G.B. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2680-005X Christensen, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8415-7547 Dhillon, V.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4236-9642 Evans, P.A. Fausnaugh, M. Fong, W.-F. Fruchter, A.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6652-9279 Fryer, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2624-0056 Fynbo, J.P.U. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8149-8298 Gaspari, N. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3855-707X Heintz, K.E. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9389-7413 Hjorth, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4571-2306 Kennea, J.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6745-4790 Kennedy, M.R. Laskar, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1792-2338 Leloudas, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8597-0756 Mandel, I. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6134-8946 Martin-Carrillo, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5108-0627 Metzger, B.D. Nicholl, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2555-3192 Nugent, A. Palmerio, J.T. Pugliese, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3457-9375 Rastinejad, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9267-6213 Rhodes, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2705-4941 Rossi, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8860-6538 Saccardi, A. Smartt, S.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8229-1731 Stevance, H.F. Tohuvavohu, A. van der Horst, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9149-6707 Vergani, S.D. Watson, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4465-8264 Barclay, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7139-2724 Bhirombhakdi, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0136-1281 Breedt, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6180-3438 Breeveld, A.A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0001-7270 Brown, A.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3316-7240 Campana, S. Chrimes, A.A. D’Avanzo, P. D’Elia, V. De Pasquale, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4036-7419 Dyer, M.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3665-5482 Galloway, D.K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6558-5121 Garbutt, J.A. https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5535-3312 Green, M.J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0948-4801 Hartmann, D.H. Jakobsson, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9404-5650 Kerry, P. Kouveliotou, C. Langeroodi, D. Le Floc’h, E. Leung, J.K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9415-3766 Littlefair, S.P. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7221-855X Munday, J. O’Brien, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5128-1899 Parsons, S.G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2695-2654 Pelisoli, I. Sahman, D.I. Salvaterra, R. Sbarufatti, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6620-8347 Steeghs, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0771-4746 Tagliaferri, G. Thöne, C.C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7978-7648 de Ugarte Postigo, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7717-5085 Kann, D.A.
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Dates:	Published: 22 February 2024 Published (online): 25 October 2023 Accepted: 17 October 2023 Submitted: 3 July 2023
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Sheffield
Date Deposited:	14 Nov 2023 14:42
Last Modified:	22 Feb 2024 16:50
Status:	Published
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1038/s41586-023-06759-1
Related URLs:	PubMed URL arXiv URL
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:205320

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Heavy element production in a compact object merger observed by JWST

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