GRB 080319B: A Naked-Eye Stellar Blast from the Distant Universe
Creators: name: Racusin, J. L.
name: Karpov, S. V.
name: Sokolowski, M.
name: Granot, J.
name: Wu, X. F.
name: Pal'shin, V.
name: Covino, S.
name: van der Horst, A. J.
name: Oates, S. R.
name: Schady, P.
name: Smith, R. J.
name: Cummings, J.
name: Starling, R. L. C.
name: Piotrowski, L. W.
name: Zhang, B.
name: Evans, P. A.
name: Holland, S. T.
name: Malek, K.
name: Page, M. T.
name: Vetere, L.
name: Margutti, R.
name: Guidorzi, C.
name: Kamble, A.
name: Curran, P. A.
name: Beardmore, A.
name: Kouveliotou, C.
name: Mankiewicz, L.
name: Melandri, A.
name: O'Brien, P. T.
name: Page, K. L.
name: Piran, T.
name: Tanvir, N. R.
name: Wrochna, G.
name: Aptekar, R. L.
name: Bartolini, C.
name: Barthelmy, S.
name: Beskin, G. M.
name: Bondar, S.
name: Campana, S.
name: Cucchiara, A.
name: Cwiok, M.
name: D'Avanzo, P.
name: D'Elia, V.
name: Della Valle, M.
name: Dominik, W.
name: Falcone, A.
name: Fiore, F.
name: Fox, D. B.
name: Frederiks, D. D.
name: Fruchter, A. S.
name: Fugazza, D.
name: Garrett, M.
name: Gehrels, N.
name: Golenetskii, S.
name: Gomboc, A.
name: Greco, G.
name: Guarnieri, A.
name: Immler, S.
name: Kasprowicz, G.
name: Levan, A. J.
name: Mazets, E. P.
name: Molinari, E.
name: Moretti, A.
name: Nawrocki, K.
name: Oleynik, P. P.
name: Osborne, J. P.
name: Pagani, C.
name: Paragi, Z.
name: Perri, M.
name: Piccioni, A.
name: Ramirez-Ruiz, E.
name: Roming, P. W. A.
name: Steele, I. A.
name: Strom, R. G.
name: Testa, V.
name: Tosti, G.
name: Ulanov, M. V.
name: Wiersema, K.
name: Wijers, R. A. M. J.
name: Zarnecki, A. F.
name: Zerbi, F.
name: Meszaros, P.
name: Chincarini, G.
name: Burrows, D. N.
Publisher: name: arXiv
Year: 2008
Subjects: subject: Astrophysics (astro-ph)
subject: FOS: Physical sciences
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) release copious amounts of energy across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, and so provide a window into the process of black hole formation from the collapse of a massive star. Over the last forty years, our understanding of the GRB phenomenon has progressed dramatically; nevertheless, fortuitous circumstances occasionally arise that provide access to a regime not yet probed. GRB 080319B presented such an opportunity, with extraordinarily bright prompt optical emission that peaked at a visual magnitude of 5.3, making it briefly visible with the naked eye. It was captured in exquisite detail by wide-field telescopes, imaging the burst location from before the time of the explosion. The combination of these unique optical data with simultaneous gamma-ray observations provides powerful diagnostics of the detailed physics of this explosion within seconds of its formation. Here we show that the prompt optical and gamma-ray emissions from this event likely arise from different spectral components within the same physical region located at a large distance from the source, implying an extremely relativistic outflow. The chromatic behaviour of the broadband afterglow is consistent with viewing the GRB down the very narrow inner core of a two-component jet that is expanding into a wind-like environment consistent with the massive star origin of long GRBs. These circumstances can explain the extreme properties of this GRB.
description: 43 pages, 18 figures, 3 tables, submitted to Nature May 11, 2008