The bright optical flash from GRB 060117
Abstract
We present a discovery and observation of an extraordinarily bright prompt optical emission of the GRB 060117 obtained by a wide-field camera atop the robotic telescope FRAM of the Pierre Auger Observatory from 2 to 10 minutes after the GRB. We found rapid average temporal flux decay of alpha = -1.7 +- 0.1 and a peak brightness R = 10.1 mag. Later observations by other instruments set a strong limit on the optical and radio transient fluxes, unveiling an unexpectedly rapid further decay. We present an interpretation featuring a relatively steep electron-distribution parameter p ~ 3.0 and providing a straightforward solution for the overall fast decay of this optical transient as a transition between reverse and forward shock.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0606004,
title = {The bright optical flash from GRB 060117},
author = {Martin Jelínek and Michael Prouza and Petr Kubánek and René Hudec and Martin Nekola and Jan Řídký and Jiří Grygar and Martina Boháčová and Alberto J. Castro-Tirado and Javier Gorosabel and Miroslav Hrabovský and Dušan Mandát and Dalibor Nosek and Libor Nožka and Miroslav Palatka and Shashi B. Pandey and Miroslav Pech and Petr Schovánek and Radomír Šmída and Petr Trávníček and Antonio de Ugarte Postigo and Stanislav Vítek},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0606004},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
Accepted to A&A, 4 pages, corected few typos pointed out by X.F. Wu