An infrared flash contemporaneous with the gamma-rays of GRB 041219a |
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Authors: | Blake C H Bloom J S Starr D L Falco E E Skrutskie M Fenimore E E Duchêne G Szentgyorgyi A Hornstein S Prochaska J X McCabe C Ghez A Konopacky Q Stapelfeldt K Hurley K Campbell R Kassis M Chaffee F Gehrels N Barthelmy S Cummings J R Hullinger D Krimm H A Markwardt C B Palmer D Parsons A McLean K Tueller J |
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Institution: | Harvard College Observatory, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. |
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Abstract: | The explosion that results in a cosmic gamma-ray burst (GRB) is thought to produce emission from two physical processes: the central engine gives rise to the high-energy emission of the burst through internal shocking, and the subsequent interaction of the flow with the external environment produces long-wavelength afterglows. Although observations of afterglows continue to refine our understanding of GRB progenitors and relativistic shocks, gamma-ray observations alone have not yielded a clear picture of the origin of the prompt emission nor details of the central engine. Only one concurrent visible-light transient has been found and it was associated with emission from an external shock. Here we report the discovery of infrared emission contemporaneous with a GRB, beginning 7.2 minutes after the onset of GRB 041219a (ref. 8). We acquired 21 images during the active phase of the burst, yielding early multi-colour observations. Our analysis of the initial infrared pulse suggests an origin consistent with internal shocks. |
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