GRB 080319B

{{Short description|Gamma-ray burst in the constellation Boötes}}

__NOTOC__

{{ Supernova

| image = GRB 080319B.jpg

| caption = The afterglow of GRB 080319B imaged by Swift's X-ray Telescope (left) and Optical/Ultraviolet Telescope (right)

| name = GRB 080319B

| type = Unknown

| epoch = J2000

| SNRtype = Unknown

| host =

| duration = 50 seconds

| redshift = 0.94

| constellation = Boötes

| ra = 14^h 31^m 40.98^s {{cite web|url=http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/other/080319.gcn3|title=Gamma Ray Burst Coordinates Network|publisher=NASA|date=March 19, 2008|access-date=March 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330012038/http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/other/080319.gcn3|archive-date=March 30, 2016|url-status=live}}

| dec = +36° 18' 8.8''

| gal =

| discovery = Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT)
March 19, 2008

| mag_v = 5.7

| distance = {{convert|7.5|e9ly|Gpc|lk=on}}
z=0.937

| progenitor = Unknown

| progenitor_type = Unknown

| b-v = Unknown

| notes =

| names = GRB 080319B

}}

GRB 080319B was a 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 was observable with the naked eye:{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/brightest_grb.html|title=NASA Satellite Detects Naked-Eye Explosion Halfway Across Universe|publisher=NASA|date=March 21, 2008|access-date=March 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303175418/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/brightest_grb.html|archive-date=March 3, 2012|url-status=live}} it had a peak visual apparent magnitude of 5.7 and remained visible to human eyes for approximately 30 seconds.{{cite web|url=http://grb.fuw.edu.pl/results/highlights/grb080319b_normal|title=Pi of the Sky observation of GRB080319B the brightest ever gamma-ray burst.|publisher=Pi of the Sky|date=March 21, 2008|access-date=March 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309053202/http://grb.fuw.edu.pl/results/highlights/grb080319b_normal/|archive-date=March 9, 2016|url-status=dead}} The magnitude was brighter than 9.0 for approximately 60 seconds.{{cite web|url=http://vo.astronet.ru/~karpov/grb080319b_lc_10_shifted.gif |title=GRB 080319B light curve |publisher=vo.astronet.ru |date=April 1, 2008 |access-date=April 5, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219104219/http://vo.astronet.ru/~karpov/grb080319b_lc_10_shifted.gif |archive-date=December 19, 2008 }}

If viewed from 1 AU away, it would have had a peak apparent magnitude of −67.57 (21 quadrillion times brighter than the Sun seen from Earth). It had an absolute magnitude of −38.6,{{Cite journal |last1=Woźniak |first1=P. R. |last2=Vestrand |first2=W. T. |last3=Panaitescu |first3=A. D. |last4=Wren |first4=J. A. |last5=Davis |first5=H. R. |last6=White |first6=R. R. |date=2009 |title=Gamma-Ray Burst at the Extreme: "The Naked-Eye Burst" GRB 080319B |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |language=en |volume=691 |issue=1 |pages=495–502 |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/691/1/495 |issn=0004-637X|doi-access=free |arxiv=0810.2481 |bibcode=2009ApJ...691..495W }} beaten by GRB 220101A with −39.4 in 2023.{{Cite journal |last1=Jin |first1=Zhi-Ping |last2=Zhou |first2=Hao |last3=Wang |first3=Yun |last4=Geng |first4=Jin-Jun |last5=Covino |first5=Stefano |last6=Wu |first6=Xue-Feng |last7=Li |first7=Xiang |last8=Fan |first8=Yi-Zhong |last9=Wei |first9=Da-Ming |last10=Wei |first10=Jian-Yan |date=2023-06-26 |title=An optical–ultraviolet flare with absolute AB magnitude of −39.4 detected in GRB 220101A |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02005-w |journal=Nature Astronomy |volume=7 |issue=9 |language=en |pages=1108–1115 |doi=10.1038/s41550-023-02005-w |bibcode=2023NatAs...7.1108J |s2cid=259720877 |issn=2397-3366|arxiv=2301.02407 }}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2023-09-14 |title=400 Quadrillion Times Brighter Than the Sun – Scientists Detect Most Energetic Ultraviolet/Optical Flare Ever |url=https://scitechdaily.com/400-quadrillion-times-brighter-than-the-sun-scientists-detect-most-energetic-ultraviolet-optical-flare-ever/ |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=SciTechDaily |language=en-us}}

Overview

Image:The Double Firing Burst.jpg

The GRB's redshift was measured to be 0.937,{{cite web|url=http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn3/7444.gcn3|title=VLT/UVES redshift of GRB 080319B|date=March 19, 2008|access-date=March 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415205750/http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn3/7444.gcn3|archive-date=April 15, 2008|url-status=live}} which means that the explosion occurred about 7.5 billion ({{val|7.5e9}}) years ago (the lookback time), and it took the light that long to reach Earth. This is roughly half the time since the Big Bang. The first scientific paper submitted 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.{{cite journal |title=Observations of the Naked-Eye GRB 080319B: Implications of Nature's Brightest Explosion |author1=J. S. Bloom |year=2009 |author2=Perley |author3=Li |author4=Butler |author5=Miller |author6=Kocevski |author7=Kann |author8=Foley |author9=Chen |doi=10.1088/0004-637X/691/1/723 |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=691 |issue=1 |pages=723–737 |arxiv=0803.3215 |bibcode=2009ApJ...691..723B|s2cid=16440948 }}

The afterglow of the burst set a new record for the "most intrinsically bright object ever observed by humans in the universe",

2.5 million times brighter than the brightest supernova to date, SN 2005ap.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13520 |title=Universe's most powerful blast visible to the naked eye |work=New Scientist |date=March 21, 2008 |first=Govert |last=Schilling |access-date=August 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130802052604/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13520 |archive-date=August 2, 2013 |url-status=live }}

Evidence suggests that the afterglow was particularly bright because its gamma jet pointed directly at Earth. This allowed an unprecedented examination of the jet structure, which appears to have consisted of a narrowly focused cone and a wider secondary one. If this is the norm for GRB jets, it follows that most GRB detections only capture the fainter wide cone, which means that most distant GRBs are too faint to detect with current telescopes. This would imply that GRBs are a far more common phenomenon than so far assumed.{{cite news |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14707 |title=Brightest gamma-ray burst was aimed at Earth |work=New Scientist |date=September 10, 2008 |first=Rachel |last=Courtland |access-date=August 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114030934/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14707 |archive-date=January 14, 2010 |url-status=live }}

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. There were five GRBs detected in a 24-hour period, including GRB 080320.{{cite web |url=http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/swift2008_gnd_ana.html |title=OLDER Swift Burst Ground-Analysis Information: 2008 |publisher=GCN |date=March 4, 2009 |access-date=April 17, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318031521/http://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/swift2008_gnd_ana.html |archive-date=March 18, 2012 |url-status=live }}

Until this gamma-ray burst event, the galaxy M83, at a distance of about 15 million light years, was the most distant object visible to the naked eye, albeit only under excellent conditions. The galaxy remains the most distant permanent object viewable without aid.

The plot below shows the brightness in both the optical wavelengths and at higher energy for the event. The first optical exposure started about 2 seconds before the source was first observed by the SWIFT telescope and lasted for 10 seconds. The emission in both curves then peaks at around 15–30 seconds before a long exponential decay.

File:Grb080319B flux curve.jpg

References

=Citations=

{{cite journal |last1=Bloom |first1=Joshua S. |display-authors=etal |title=Observations of the Naked-Eye GRB 080319B: Implications of Nature's Brightest Explosion|journal=Astrophysical Journal |arxiv=0803.3215 |year=2009 |bibcode = 2009ApJ...691..723B |doi = 10.1088/0004-637X/691/1/723 |volume=691 |issue=1 |pages=723–737|s2cid=16440948 }}
{{cite journal |last1=Racusin |first1=Judith L. |display-authors=etal |date=2008 |title=Broadband observations of the naked-eye γ-ray burst GRB 080319B |journal=Nature |volume=455 |issue=7210 |pages=183–188 |doi=10.1038/nature07270 |pmid=18784718 |bibcode=2008Natur.455..183R |arxiv=0805.1557 |s2cid=205214609|author1-link=Judith Racusin }}

=Database references=

{{cite simbad|title=GRB 080319B}}

External links

[http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/17/ Hubble Pinpoints Record-Breaking Explosion]
[http://hubblesite.org/explore_astronomy/skywatch/db/165/audio/SkyWatch_165-06052008.mp3 SkyWatch Show 165: Brightest Explosion Ever Seen] (mp3)
[https://www.aavso.org/aavso-alert-notice-372 AAVSO Alert Notice 372 Possible naked-eye gamma-ray burst detected (GRB 080319B)]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20081014140159/http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2008/pr-28-08.html ESO Press Release]