The radio afterglow from the γ-ray burst of 8 May 1997

D. A. Frail (), S. R. Kulkarni, L. Nicastro, M. Feroci and G. B. Taylor
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D. A. Frail: National Radio Astronomy Observatory
S. R. Kulkarni: Mathematics and Astronomy 105-24, Caltech
L. Nicastro: Istituto Tecnologie e Studio Radiazioni Extraterrestri, CNR
M. Feroci: Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, CNR
G. B. Taylor: National Radio Astronomy Observatory

Nature, 1997, vol. 389, issue 6648, 261-263

Abstract: Abstract Important insight into the nature of γ-ray bursts (GRBs) has been gained in recent months mainly due to the immediate, precise localization of the bursts1,2,3 and the discovery of relatively long-lived X-ray afterglows1,2,3,4 by the satellite BeppoSAX5. These advances have enabled deep searches which have led to the discovery of optical transients6,7 coincident with fading X-ray sources. Optical spectroscopy of the latest burst (GRB970508; ref. 8) has clearly demonstrated that it lies at a cosmological distance, thus resolving a long-standing controversy about the distance scale to GRBs. Here we report a variable radio source within the error box of GRB970508 and coincident with the optical transient. We suggest that this is the much-sought-after radio counterpart of a GRB. If the observed fluctuations in the radio emission (‘twinkling’) are a result of a strong scattering by the irregularities in the ionized Galactic interstellar gas, then the source must have an angular size of about 3 microarcseconds in the first few weeks. The damping of the fluctuations with time indicates that the source expands to a significantly larger size later on.

Date: 1997
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DOI: 10.1038/38451

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