1. Dark Cosmology Centre,
2. Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
4. Department of Astronomy, University of California at Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
5. Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AB, UK
6. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
7. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead CH41 1LD, UK
8. University of Hawaii, Institute of Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
9. Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI), Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg (ZAH), Mönchhof Str. 12-14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
10. School of Physics, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
11. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Apartado de Correos, 3004, E-18080 Granada, Spain
12. SUPA Physics/Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, Scotland, UK
13. Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, Germany
14. Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, UMR70951 CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 98 bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
15. Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Drive, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA
16. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
17. European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Casilla 19001, Vitacura
18. Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
19. Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek', Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 403, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Correspondence to: Johan P. U. Fynbo¹ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.P.U.F. (Email: jfynbo@dark-cosmology.dk).

Abstract

It is now accepted that long-duration -ray bursts (GRBs) are produced during the collapse of a massive star^1,2. The standard 'collapsar' model³ predicts that a broad-lined and luminous type Ic core-collapse supernova accompanies every long-duration GRB⁴. This association has been confirmed in observations of several nearby GRBs^5–9. Here we report that GRB 060505 (ref. 10) and GRB 060614 (ref. 11) were not accompanied by supernova emission down to limits hundreds of times fainter than the archetypal supernova SN 1998bw that accompanied GRB 980425, and fainter than any type Ic supernova ever observed¹². Multi-band observations of the early afterglows, as well as spectroscopy of the host galaxies, exclude the possibility of significant dust obscuration and show that the bursts originated in actively star-forming regions. The absence of a supernova to such deep limits is qualitatively different from all previous nearby long-duration GRBs and suggests a new phenomenological type of massive stellar death.

1. Dark Cosmology Centre,
2. Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, S-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
4. Department of Astronomy, University of California at Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
5. Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, AL10 9AB, UK
6. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
7. Astrophysics Research Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Twelve Quays House, Egerton Wharf, Birkenhead CH41 1LD, UK
8. University of Hawaii, Institute of Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
9. Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (ARI), Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg (ZAH), Mönchhof Str. 12-14, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
10. School of Physics, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
11. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Apartado de Correos, 3004, E-18080 Granada, Spain
12. SUPA Physics/Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9SS, Scotland, UK
13. Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Sternwarte 5, 07778 Tautenburg, Germany
14. Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, UMR70951 CNRS, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 98 bis boulevard Arago, 75014 Paris, France
15. Institute for Advanced Study, Einstein Drive, Princeton, New Jersey 08540, USA
16. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
17. European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Casilla 19001, Vitacura
18. Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 36-D, Santiago, Chile
19. Astronomical Institute 'Anton Pannekoek', Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Kruislaan 403, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Correspondence to: Johan P. U. Fynbo¹ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.P.U.F. (Email: jfynbo@dark-cosmology.dk).

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