A very energetic supernova associated with the γ-ray burst of 29 March 2003

Jens Hjorth, Jesper Sollerman, Palle Møller, Johan P.U. Fynbo, Stan E. Woosley, Chryssa Kouveliotou, Nial R. Tanvir, Jochen Grelner, Michael I. Andersen, Alberto J. Castro-Tirado, José María Castro Cerón, Andrew S. Fruchter, Javier Gorosabel, Páll Jakobsson, Lex Kaper, Sylvio Klose, Nicola Masettl, Holger Pedersen, Kristian Pedersen, Elena PlanEllana Palazzi, James E. Rhoads, Evert Rol, Edward P.J. Van den Heuvel, Paul M. Vreeswljk, Darach Watson, Ralph A.M.J. Wljers

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1208 Scopus citations

Abstract

Over the past five years evidence has mounted that long-duration (>2 s) γ-ray bursts (GRBs)-the most luminous of all astronomical explosions-signal the collapse of massive stars in our Universe. This evidence was originally based on the probable association of one unusual GRB with a supernova, but now includes the association of GRBs with regions of massive star formation in distant galaxies, the appearance of supernova-like 'bumps' in the optical afterglow light curves of several bursts and lines of freshly synthesized elements in the spectra of a few X-ray afterglows. These observations support, but do not yet conclusively demonstrate, the idea that long-duration GRBs are associated with the deaths of massive stars, presumably arising from core collapse. Here we report evidence that a very energetic supernova (a hypernova) was temporally and spatially coincident with a GRB at redshift z = 0.1685. The timing of the supernova indicates that it exploded within a few days of the GRB, strongly suggesting that core-collapse events can give rise to GRBs, thereby favouring the 'collapsar' model.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)847-850
Number of pages4
JournalNature
Volume423
Issue number6942
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 19 2003
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General

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