A very energetic supernova associated with the gamma-ray burst of 29 March 2003.
Over the past five years evidence has mounted that long-duration (>2 s) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)-the most luminous of all astronomical explosions-signal the collapse of massive stars in our Universe. This evidence was originally based on the probable association of one unusual GRB with a supernova, but now includes the association of GRBs with regions of massive star formation in distant galaxies, the appearance of supernova-like 'bumps' in the optical afterglow light curves of several bursts and lines of freshly synthesized elements in the spectra of a few X-ray afterglows. These observations support, but do not yet conclusively demonstrate, the idea that long-duration GRBs are associated with the deaths of massive stars, presumably arising from core collapse. Here we report evidence that a very energetic supernova (a hypernova) was temporally and spatially coincident with a GRB at redshift z = 0.1685. The timing of the supernova indicates that it exploded within a few days of the GRB, strongly suggesting that core-collapse events can give rise to GRBs, thereby favouring the 'collapsar' model.
Hjorth
Jens
J
Astronomical Observatory, NBIfAFG, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark. jens@astro.ku.dk
Sollerman
Jesper
J
Møller
Palle
P
Fynbo
Johan P U
JP
Woosley
Stan E
SE
Kouveliotou
Chryssa
C
Tanvir
Nial R
NR
Greiner
Jochen
J
Andersen
Michael I
MI
Castro-Tirado
Alberto J
AJ
Castro Cerón
José María
JM
Fruchter
Andrew S
AS
Gorosabel
Javier
J
Jakobsson
Páll
P
Kaper
Lex
L
Klose
Sylvio
S
Masetti
Nicola
N
Pedersen
Holger
H
Pedersen
Kristian
K
Pian
Elena
E
Palazzi
Eliana
E
Rhoads
James E
JE
Rol
Evert
E
van den Heuvel
Edward P J
EP
Vreeswijk
Paul M
PM
Watson
Darach
D
Wijers
Ralph A M J
RA