The radio flare and multiwavelength afterglow of the short GRB 231117A: energy injection from a violent shell collision

G. E. Anderson; G. P. Lamb; B. P. Gompertz; L. Rhodes; A. Martin-Carrillo; A. J. van der Horst; A. Rowlinson; M. E. Bell; T. W. Chen; H. M. Fausey; M. Ferro; P. J. Hancock; S. R. Oates; S. Schulze; R. L. C. Starling; S. Yang; K. Ackley; J. P. Anderson; A. Andersson; J. F. Agüí Fernández; R. Brivio; E. Burns; K. C. Chambers; T. de Boer; V. D’Elia; M. De Pasquale; A. de Ugarte Postigo; Dimple; R. Fender; M. D. Fulton; H. Gao; J. H. Gillanders; D. A. Green; M. Gromadzki; A. Gulati; D. H. Hartmann; M. E. Huber; N. J. Klingler; N. P. M. Kuin; J. K. Leung; A. J. Levan; C. C. Lin; E. Magnier; D. B. Malesani; P. Minguez; K. P. Mooley; T. Mukherjee; M. Nicholl; P. T. O’Brien; G. Pugliese; A. Rossi; S. D. Ryder; B. Sbarufatti; B. Schneider; F. Schüssler; S. J. Smartt; K. W. Smith; S. Srivastav; D. Steeghs; N. R. Tanvir; C. C. Thoene; S. D. Vergani; R. J. Wainscoat; Z. N. Wang; R. A. M. J. Wijers; D. Williams-Baldwin; I. Worssam; T. Zafar

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/adfed7

The radio flare and multiwavelength afterglow of the short GRB 231117A: energy injection from a violent shell collision

G. E. Anderson^*
, G. P. Lamb
, B. P. Gompertz
, L. Rhodes
, A. Martin-Carrillo
, A. J. van der Horst
, A. Rowlinson
, M. E. Bell
, T. W. Chen
, H. M. Fausey
, M. Ferro
, P. J. Hancock
, S. R. Oates
, S. Schulze
, R. L. C. Starling
, S. Yang
, K. Ackley
, J. P. Anderson
, A. Andersson
, J. F. Agüí Fernández

R. Brivio, E. Burns, K. C. Chambers, T. de Boer, V. D’Elia, M. De Pasquale, A. de Ugarte Postigo, Dimple, R. Fender, M. D. Fulton, H. Gao, J. H. Gillanders, D. A. Green, M. Gromadzki, A. Gulati, D. H. Hartmann, M. E. Huber, N. J. Klingler, N. P. M. Kuin, J. K. Leung, A. J. Levan, C. C. Lin, E. Magnier, D. B. Malesani, P. Minguez, K. P. Mooley, T. Mukherjee, M. Nicholl, P. T. O’Brien, G. Pugliese, A. Rossi, S. D. Ryder, B. Sbarufatti, B. Schneider, F. Schüssler, S. J. Smartt, K. W. Smith, S. Srivastav, D. Steeghs, N. R. Tanvir, C. C. Thoene, S. D. Vergani, R. J. Wainscoat, Z. N. Wang, R. A. M. J. Wijers, D. Williams-Baldwin, I. Worssam, T. Zafar

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

We present the early radio detection and multiwavelength modeling of the short gamma-ray burst (GRB) 231117A at redshift z = 0.257. The Australia Telescope Compact Array automatically triggered a 9 hr observation of GRB 231117A at 5.5 and 9 GHz following its detection by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory just 1.3 hr post-burst. Splitting this observation into 1 hr time bins, the early radio afterglow exhibited flaring, scintillating and plateau phases. The scintillation allowed us to place the earliest upper limit ( 35 to Γ > 5 between ∼0.1 and 1 day. These results demonstrate the importance of rapid and sensitive radio follow-up of GRBs for exploring their central engines and outflow behaviour.

Original language	English
Article number	5
Number of pages	26
Journal	The Astrophysical Journal
Volume	994
Issue number	1
Early online date	11 Nov 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adfed7
Publication status	Published - 20 Nov 2025

Keywords

X-ray transient sources
Gamma-ray transient sources
Transient sources
Radio transient sources
Gamma-ray bursts

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The radio flare and multiwavelength afterglow of the short GRB 231117A: energy injection from a violent shell collision
Copyright 2025 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
Final published version, 12.4 MBLicence: CC BY

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Anderson, G. E., Lamb, G. P., Gompertz, B. P., Rhodes, L., Martin-Carrillo, A., van der Horst, A. J., Rowlinson, A., Bell, M. E., Chen, T. W., Fausey, H. M., Ferro, M., Hancock, P. J., Oates, S. R., Schulze, S., Starling, R. L. C., Yang, S., Ackley, K., Anderson, J. P., Andersson, A., ... Zafar, T. (2025). The radio flare and multiwavelength afterglow of the short GRB 231117A: energy injection from a violent shell collision. The Astrophysical Journal, 994(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adfed7

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title = "The radio flare and multiwavelength afterglow of the short GRB 231117A: energy injection from a violent shell collision",

abstract = "We present the early radio detection and multiwavelength modeling of the short gamma-ray burst (GRB) 231117A at redshift z = 0.257. The Australia Telescope Compact Array automatically triggered a 9 hr observation of GRB 231117A at 5.5 and 9 GHz following its detection by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory just 1.3 hr post-burst. Splitting this observation into 1 hr time bins, the early radio afterglow exhibited flaring, scintillating and plateau phases. The scintillation allowed us to place the earliest upper limit ( 35 to Γ > 5 between ∼0.1 and 1 day. These results demonstrate the importance of rapid and sensitive radio follow-up of GRBs for exploring their central engines and outflow behaviour.",

keywords = "X-ray transient sources, Gamma-ray transient sources, Transient sources, Radio transient sources, Gamma-ray bursts",

author = "Anderson, \{G. E.\} and Lamb, \{G. P.\} and Gompertz, \{B. P.\} and L. Rhodes and A. Martin-Carrillo and \{van der Horst\}, \{A. J.\} and A. Rowlinson and Bell, \{M. E.\} and Chen, \{T. W.\} and Fausey, \{H. M.\} and M. Ferro and Hancock, \{P. J.\} and Oates, \{S. R.\} and S. Schulze and Starling, \{R. L. C.\} and S. Yang and K. Ackley and Anderson, \{J. P.\} and A. Andersson and Fern{\'a}ndez, \{J. F. Ag{\"u}{\'i}\} and R. Brivio and E. Burns and Chambers, \{K. C.\} and \{de Boer\}, T. and V. D{\textquoteright}Elia and \{De Pasquale\}, M. and \{de Ugarte Postigo\}, A. and Dimple and R. Fender and Fulton, \{M. D.\} and H. Gao and Gillanders, \{J. H.\} and Green, \{D. A.\} and M. Gromadzki and A. Gulati and Hartmann, \{D. H.\} and Huber, \{M. E.\} and Klingler, \{N. J.\} and Kuin, \{N. P. M.\} and Leung, \{J. K.\} and Levan, \{A. J.\} and Lin, \{C. C.\} and E. Magnier and Malesani, \{D. B.\} and P. Minguez and Mooley, \{K. P.\} and T. Mukherjee and M. Nicholl and O{\textquoteright}Brien, \{P. T.\} and G. Pugliese and A. Rossi and Ryder, \{S. D.\} and B. Sbarufatti and B. Schneider and F. Sch{\"u}ssler and Smartt, \{S. J.\} and Smith, \{K. W.\} and S. Srivastav and D. Steeghs and Tanvir, \{N. R.\} and Thoene, \{C. C.\} and Vergani, \{S. D.\} and Wainscoat, \{R. J.\} and Wang, \{Z. N.\} and Wijers, \{R. A. M. J.\} and D. Williams-Baldwin and I. Worssam and T. Zafar",

year = "2025",

month = nov,

day = "20",

doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/adfed7",

language = "English",

volume = "994",

journal = "The Astrophysical Journal",

issn = "0004-637X",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "1",

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Anderson, GE, Lamb, GP, Gompertz, BP, Rhodes, L, Martin-Carrillo, A, van der Horst, AJ, Rowlinson, A, Bell, ME, Chen, TW, Fausey, HM, Ferro, M, Hancock, PJ, Oates, SR, Schulze, S, Starling, RLC, Yang, S, Ackley, K, Anderson, JP, Andersson, A, Fernández, JFA, Brivio, R, Burns, E, Chambers, KC, de Boer, T, D’Elia, V, De Pasquale, M, de Ugarte Postigo, A, Dimple, Fender, R, Fulton, MD, Gao, H, Gillanders, JH, Green, DA, Gromadzki, M, Gulati, A, Hartmann, DH, Huber, ME, Klingler, NJ, Kuin, NPM, Leung, JK, Levan, AJ, Lin, CC, Magnier, E, Malesani, DB, Minguez, P, Mooley, KP, Mukherjee, T, Nicholl, M, O’Brien, PT, Pugliese, G, Rossi, A, Ryder, SD, Sbarufatti, B, Schneider, B, Schüssler, F, Smartt, SJ , Smith, KW , Srivastav, S, Steeghs, D, Tanvir, NR, Thoene, CC, Vergani, SD, Wainscoat, RJ, Wang, ZN, Wijers, RAMJ, Williams-Baldwin, D, Worssam, I & Zafar, T 2025, 'The radio flare and multiwavelength afterglow of the short GRB 231117A: energy injection from a violent shell collision', The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 994, no. 1, 5. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adfed7

TY - JOUR

T1 - The radio flare and multiwavelength afterglow of the short GRB 231117A: energy injection from a violent shell collision

AU - Anderson, G. E.

AU - Lamb, G. P.

AU - Gompertz, B. P.

AU - Rhodes, L.

AU - Martin-Carrillo, A.

AU - van der Horst, A. J.

AU - Rowlinson, A.

AU - Bell, M. E.

AU - Chen, T. W.

AU - Fausey, H. M.

AU - Ferro, M.

AU - Hancock, P. J.

AU - Oates, S. R.

AU - Schulze, S.

AU - Starling, R. L. C.

AU - Yang, S.

AU - Ackley, K.

AU - Anderson, J. P.

AU - Andersson, A.

AU - Fernández, J. F. Agüí

AU - Brivio, R.

AU - Burns, E.

AU - Chambers, K. C.

AU - de Boer, T.

AU - D’Elia, V.

AU - De Pasquale, M.

AU - de Ugarte Postigo, A.

AU - Dimple, null

AU - Fender, R.

AU - Fulton, M. D.

AU - Gao, H.

AU - Gillanders, J. H.

AU - Green, D. A.

AU - Gromadzki, M.

AU - Gulati, A.

AU - Hartmann, D. H.

AU - Huber, M. E.

AU - Klingler, N. J.

AU - Kuin, N. P. M.

AU - Leung, J. K.

AU - Levan, A. J.

AU - Lin, C. C.

AU - Magnier, E.

AU - Malesani, D. B.

AU - Minguez, P.

AU - Mooley, K. P.

AU - Mukherjee, T.

AU - Nicholl, M.

AU - O’Brien, P. T.

AU - Pugliese, G.

AU - Rossi, A.

AU - Ryder, S. D.

AU - Sbarufatti, B.

AU - Schneider, B.

AU - Schüssler, F.

AU - Smartt, S. J.

AU - Smith, K. W.

AU - Srivastav, S.

AU - Steeghs, D.

AU - Tanvir, N. R.

AU - Thoene, C. C.

AU - Vergani, S. D.

AU - Wainscoat, R. J.

AU - Wang, Z. N.

AU - Wijers, R. A. M. J.

AU - Williams-Baldwin, D.

AU - Worssam, I.

AU - Zafar, T.

PY - 2025/11/20

Y1 - 2025/11/20

N2 - We present the early radio detection and multiwavelength modeling of the short gamma-ray burst (GRB) 231117A at redshift z = 0.257. The Australia Telescope Compact Array automatically triggered a 9 hr observation of GRB 231117A at 5.5 and 9 GHz following its detection by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory just 1.3 hr post-burst. Splitting this observation into 1 hr time bins, the early radio afterglow exhibited flaring, scintillating and plateau phases. The scintillation allowed us to place the earliest upper limit ( 35 to Γ > 5 between ∼0.1 and 1 day. These results demonstrate the importance of rapid and sensitive radio follow-up of GRBs for exploring their central engines and outflow behaviour.

AB - We present the early radio detection and multiwavelength modeling of the short gamma-ray burst (GRB) 231117A at redshift z = 0.257. The Australia Telescope Compact Array automatically triggered a 9 hr observation of GRB 231117A at 5.5 and 9 GHz following its detection by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory just 1.3 hr post-burst. Splitting this observation into 1 hr time bins, the early radio afterglow exhibited flaring, scintillating and plateau phases. The scintillation allowed us to place the earliest upper limit ( 35 to Γ > 5 between ∼0.1 and 1 day. These results demonstrate the importance of rapid and sensitive radio follow-up of GRBs for exploring their central engines and outflow behaviour.

KW - X-ray transient sources

KW - Gamma-ray transient sources

KW - Transient sources

KW - Radio transient sources

KW - Gamma-ray bursts

U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/adfed7

DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/adfed7

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 994

JO - The Astrophysical Journal

JF - The Astrophysical Journal

IS - 1

M1 - 5

ER -

The radio flare and multiwavelength afterglow of the short GRB 231117A: energy injection from a violent shell collision

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