Transient optical emission from the error box of the γ-ray burst of 28 February 1997

J. van Paradijs, P. J. Groot, Titus Galama, C. Kouveliotou, R. G. Strom, J. Telting, R. G. M. Rutten, G. J. Fishman, C. A. Meegan, M. Pettini, N. Tanvir, J. Bloom, H. Pedersen, H. U. Nørdgaard-Nielsen, M. Linden-Vørnle, J. Melnick, G. van der Steene, M. Bremer, R. Naber, J. Heise, J. in't Zand, E. Costa, M. Feroci, L. Piro, F. Frontera, G. Zavattini, L. Nicastro, E. Palazzi, K. Bennet, L. Hanlon and A. Parmar
Additional contact information
J. van Paradijs: University of Amsterdam, and Center for High Energy Astrophysics
P. J. Groot: University of Amsterdam, and Center for High Energy Astrophysics
C. Kouveliotou: Universities Space Research Association
R. G. Strom: University of Amsterdam, and Center for High Energy Astrophysics
J. Telting: Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy
R. G. M. Rutten: Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy
G. J. Fishman: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, ES-84
C. A. Meegan: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, ES-84
M. Pettini: Royal Greenwich Observatory
N. Tanvir: Institute of Astronomy
J. Bloom: Institute of Astronomy
H. Pedersen: Copenhagen University Observatory
H. U. Nørdgaard-Nielsen: Danish Space Research Institute
M. Linden-Vørnle: Danish Space Research Institute
J. Melnick: European Southern Observatory
G. van der Steene: European Southern Observatory
M. Bremer: Leiden Observatory
R. Naber: Kapteyn Astronomical Institute
J. Heise: SRON Laboratory for Space Research
J. in't Zand: SRON Laboratory for Space Research
E. Costa: Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale CNR
M. Feroci: Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale CNR
L. Piro: Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale CNR
F. Frontera: Universita di Ferrara
G. Zavattini: Universita di Ferrara
L. Nicastro: Istituto Tecnologie e Studio Radiazione Extraterrestrie CNR
E. Palazzi: Istituto Tecnologie e Studio Radiazione Extraterrestrie CNR
K. Bennet: ESA/ESTEC, Space Science Department
L. Hanlon: University College Dublin
A. Parmar: ESA/ESTEC, Space Science Department

Nature, 1997, vol. 386, issue 6626, 686-689

Abstract: Abstract For almost a quarter of a century1, the origin of γ-ray bursts— brief, energetic bursts of high-energy photons—has remained unknown. The detection of a counterpart at another wavelength has long been thought to be a key to understanding the nature of these bursts (see, for example, ref. 2), but intensive searches have not revealed such a counterpart. The distribution and properties of the bursts3 are explained naturally if they lie at cosmological distances (a few Gpc)4, but there is a countervailing view that they are relatively local objects5, perhaps distributed in a very large halo around our Galaxy. Here we report the detection of a transient and fading optical source in the error box associated with the burst GRB970228, less than 21 hours after the burst6,7. The optical transient appears to be associated with a faint galaxy7,8, suggesting that the burst occurred in that galaxy and thus that γ-ray bursts in general lie at cosmological distance.

Date: 1997
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DOI: 10.1038/386686a0

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