Related papers: Was GRB 990123 a unique optical flash?
GRB 990123 was a long, complex gamma-ray burst accompanied by an extremely bright optical flash. We present the collective constraints on the bulk Lorentz factor for this burst based on estimates from burst kinematics, synchrotron spectral…
Recently we have presented a new theoretical analysis of the reverse shock emission. We use this analysis here to revisit GRB 990123. We find new and compelling evidences that the optical flash and the radio flare of GRB 990123 resulted…
The optical flash accompanying GRB 990123 is believed to be powered by the reverse shock of a thin shell. With the best fitted physical parameters for GRB 990123 (Panaitescu & Kumar 2001) and the assumption that the parameters in the…
The prompt optical emission of GRB 990123 was uncorrelated to the gamma-ray light-curve and exhibited temporal properties similar to those of the steeply-decaying, early X-ray emission observed by Swift at the end of many bursts. These…
In this paper we examine gamma-ray and optical data of GRB 091024, a gamma-ray burst (GRB) with an extremely long duration of T90~1020 s, as observed with the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM). We present spectral analysis of all three…
The standard model of GRB afterglows assumes that relativistically expanding material is decelerating due to interaction with the surrounding medium. The afterglows are well described by the synchrotron radiation from a forward shock, while…
With the successful launch of the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer, people expected the prompt optical flash like GRB990123 would be easily detected. However the fact that early optical flash have not been detected for a number of GRBs…
The prompt optical emission that arrives with gamma-rays from a cosmic gamma-ray burst (GRB) is a signature of the engine powering the burst, the properties of the ultra-relativistic ejecta of the explosion, and the ejecta's interactions…
The origin of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has been enigmatic since their discovery. The situation improved dramatically in 1997, when the rapid availability of precise coordinates for the bursts allowed the detection of faint optical and radio…
The recent gamma ray burst, GRB 990123, has an absorption redshift z_s=1.60, implying an apparent energy $E \ge 3 \times 10^{54} erg$, and a peak luminosity $L_{max} \ge 6 \times10^{53}erg/s$, assuming isotropic emission. This energy is ten…
In this letter we discuss the flux and the behavior of the bright optical flare emission detected by the 25 cm TAROT robotic telescope during the prompt high-energy emission and the early afterglow. We combine our data with simultaneous…
We compare the ongoing observations of the remarkable burst GRB990123, the mother of all bursts, with the predictions of the afterglow theory. We show that the observations agree with the recent prediction that a reverse shock propagating…
The synchrotron optical flash caught in GRB 990123 overlaps with the MeV radiation front, and the optical-emitting electrons must also produce GeV-TeV emission by inverse Compton scattering of MeV photons. The ultra-high-energy flash can be…
GRB 990123 was the first burst from which simultaneous optical, X-ray and gamma-ray emission was detected; its afterglow has been followed by an extensive set of radio, optical and X-ray observations. We have studied the gamma-ray burst…
The prompt $(t \siml 0.16$ days) light curve and initial 9-th magnitude optical flash from GRB 990123 can be attributed to a reverse external shock, or possibly to internal shocks. We discuss the time decay laws and spectral slopes expected…
Very early optical and near infrared (IR) emission was discovered accompanying the long gamma-ray burst (GRB) 041219a. We show that the optical/IR flash tracking the gamma-ray lightcurve during the prompt emission could be understood as…
The interaction of a relativistic fireball with its ambient medium is described through two shocks: a reverse shock that propagates into the fireball, and a forward shock that propagates into the medium. The observed optical flash of GRB…
The optical light that is generated simultaneously with the x-rays and gamma-rays during a gamma-ray burst (GRB) provides clues about the nature of the explosions that occur as massive stars collapse to form black holes. We report on the…
We calculate the reverse shock (RS) synchrotron emission in the optical and the radio wavelength bands from electron-positron pair enriched gamma-ray burst ejecta with the goal of determining the pair content of GRBs using early time…
Long $\rm \gamma$-ray bursts (GRBs) are produced by the dissipation of ultra-relativistic jets launched by newly-born black holes after the collapse of massive stars. Right after the luminous and highly variable $\gamma$-ray emission, the…