Jet breaks in short gamma-ray bursts. II. The collimated afterglow of GRB 051221A

Abstract

We report the best evidence to date of a jet break in a short gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow, using Chandra and Swift XRT observations of the X-ray afterglow of GRB 051221 A. The combined X-ray light curve, which has three breaks, is similar to those commonly observed in Swift observations of long GRBs. A flat segment of the light curve at ∼0.1 days after the burst represents the first clear case of strong energy injection in the external shock of a short GRB afterglow. The last break in the light curve occurs at ∼4 days postburst and breaks to a power-law decay index of ∼2. We interpret this as a jet break, with important implications for models of short GRBs, since it requires collimation of the afterglow into a jet with an initial opening angle 00 ∼ 4°-8° and implies a total jet kinetic energy of E <inf>jet</inf> ∼ (1-5) × 10⁴⁹ ergs. Combined with the lack of a jet break in GRB 050724, this suggests a wide range in jet collimation in short GRBs, with at least some having collimation similar to that found in long GRBs, although with significantly lower jet energies. © 2006. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.