GRB 080319B

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GRB 080319B

The extremely luminous afterglow of GRB 080319B was imaged by Swift's X-ray Telescope (left) and Optical/Ultraviolet Telescope (right). This was by far the brightest gamma-ray burst afterglow ever seen.
Observation data (Epoch J2000)
Supernova type Unknown
Remnant type Unknown
Constellation Boötes
Right ascension 14:31:40.98 [1]
Declination +36:18:08.8
Discovery Date March 19, 2008
Peak magnitude (V) 5.8
Distance (7.5 billion ly LTD)
Physical characteristics
Progenitor Unknown
Progenitor type Unknown
Colour (B-V) Unknown

GRB 080319B was a remarkable gamma ray burst (GRB) detected by the Swift satellite at 06:12 UTC on March 19, 2008. The burst set a new record for the farthest object that could be seen with the naked eye,[2] it had a peak apparent magnitude of 5.8 and remained theoretically visible for ~30 seconds.[3] The magnitude was brighter than 9.0 for ~60 seconds.[4]

The GRB's redshift was measured to be 0.937[5], which means that the explosion occurred about 7.5 billion (7.5×109) years ago, and it took the light that long to reach us. This is roughly half the time since the Big Bang.[2]. The first scientific paper submitted[6] on the event, suggested that the GRB could have easily been seen to a redshift of 16 (essentially to the time in the universe when stars were just being formed, well into the age of reionization) from a sub-meter sized telescope equipped with near-infrared filters.

The afterglow of the burst set a new record for the "most intrinsically bright object ever observed by humans in the universe",[2] 2.5 million times brighter than the brightest supernova to date, SN 2005ap.[7]

It was speculated that the afterglow was particularly bright due to the gamma jet focusing directly in our direction.[2]

A record for the number of observed bursts with the same satellite on one day, four, was also set. This burst was named with the suffix B since it was the second burst detected that day. In fact, there were 5 GRBs detected in a 24 hour period, including GRB 080320[8].

Until this gamma ray burst event, the Triangulum Galaxy at a distance of about 2.9 million light years was the most distant object ever visible to the naked eye. The galaxy remains the most distant permanent object viewable without aid.[2]

It has recently been suggested that this spectacle be named the Clarke Event[9], as it occurred just hours after the death of noted science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke was announced.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Gamma Ray Burst Coordinates Network. NASA (March 19, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  2. ^ a b c d e NASA Satellite Detects Naked-Eye Explosion Halfway Across Universe. NASA (March 21, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  3. ^ Pi of the Sky observation of GRB080319B the brightest ever gamma ray burst.. Pi of the Sky (March 21, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  4. ^ GRB 080319B light curve. vo.astronet.ru (April 1, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
  5. ^ VLT/UVES redshift of GRB 080319B (March 19, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  6. ^ J. S. Bloom (March 25, 2008). Observations of the Naked-Eye GRB 080319B: Implications of Nature's Brightest Explosion. arxiv.org. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  7. ^ Universe's most powerful blast visible to the naked eye. NewScientist (March 21, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
  8. ^ Swift Burst Ground-Analysis Information. GCN (March 21, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  9. ^ Why not the Clarke Event? (March 21, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-24.