GRB 211227A as a Peculiar Long Gamma-Ray Burst from a Compact Star Merger

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) associated with supernovae (SNe) are believed to originate from massive star core-collapse events, whereas short-duration GRBs that are related to compact star mergers are expected to be accompanied by kilonovae. GRB 211227A, which lasted about 84 s, had an initial short/hard spike followed by a series of soft gamma-ray extended emission at redshift z = 0.228. We performed follow-up observations of the optical emission using BOOTES, LCOGT, and the Lijiang 2.4 m telescope, but we detected no associated supernova signature, even down to very stringent limits at such a low redshift. We observed the host galaxy within a large error circle and roughly estimated the physical offset of GRB 211227A as 20.47 +/- 14.47 kpc from the galaxy center. These properties are similar to those of GRB 060614, and suggest that the progenitor of GRB 211227A is not favored to be associated with the death of massive stars. Hence, we propose that GRB 211227A originates from a compact star merger. Calculating pseudo-kilonova emission for this case by adopting the typical parameters, we find that any associated pseudo-kilonova is too faint to be detected. If this is the case, it explains naturally the characteristics of the prompt emission, the lack of SN and kilonova emission, and the large physical offset from the galaxy center.

Automated summary

In this study, multi-band observations of the gamma-ray burst GRB 211227A were conducted, and it was found that its characteristics were not consistent with gamma-ray bursts associated with the death of massive stars, but were more likely to originate from compact star mergers. In addition, calculations of pseudo-kilonova emission indicated that any associated pseudo-kilonova would be too faint to be detected.