Swift and Fermi observations of the early afterglow of the short Gamma-Ray Burst 090510

M. De Pasquale, P. Schady, N. P. M. Kuin, M. J. Page, P. A. Curran, S. Zane, S. R. Oates, S. T. Holland, A. A. Breeveld, E. A. Hoversten, G. Chincarini, D. Grupe, Fermi/LAT, Fermi/GBM collaborations. Minor changes in the authorlist

Published 2009-10-09, updated 2009-10-12Version 2

We present the observations of GRB090510 performed by the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and the Swift observatory. This is a bright, short burst that shows an extended emission detected in the GeV range. Furthermore, its optical emission initially rises, a feature so far observed only in long bursts, while the X-ray flux shows an initial shallow decrease, followed by a steeper decay. This exceptional behavior enables us to investigate the physical properties of the GRB outflow, poorly known in short bursts. We discuss internal shock and external shock models for the broadband energy emission of this object.