GRB 031203 was a
gamma-ray burst (GRB) detected on December 3, 2003. A gamma-ray burst is a highly
luminous
Luminous may refer to:
* Luminous flame, a flame emitting visible light
Music
* Luminous (group), a South Korean boy band
* ''Luminous'' (EP), an EP by Cesium 137
* ''Luminous'' (John Hicks and Elise Wood album), 1985–88
* Luminous (The Hor ...
flash associated with an explosion in a distant galaxy and producing
gamma ray
A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...
s, the most energetic form of
electromagnetic radiation
In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic field, electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, inf ...
, and often followed by a longer-lived "afterglow" emitted at longer wavelengths (
X-ray
An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...
,
ultraviolet
Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
,
optical,
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
, and
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
).
Discovery
GRB 031203 was detected by
INTEGRAL
In mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented i ...
on December 3, 2003, at 22:01:28
UTC. The burst lasted 20 seconds and was located at a sky position of and .
The burst's afterglow was detected in optical wavelengths by the
Mercator Telescope
The Mercator Telescope is a 1.2 m telescope at the Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos on La Palma. It is operated by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Leuven University), Belgium, in collaboration with the Observatory of the University of ...
, radio wavelengths by the
Very Large Array
The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, ~ west of Socorro. The VLA comprises twen ...
, and X-ray wavelengths by the
XMM-Newton satellite.
X-ray halo
Observations of the detection region were made by
XMM-Newton starting 6 hours after the burst was detected. The X-ray afterglow of the burst was surrounded by two concentric rings which increased in size as time elapsed. This was the first X-ray halo that had ever been observed around a gamma-ray burst.
The rings were caused by light being scattered off of columns of dust between the gamma-ray burst and the detector.
Energetics
At a
redshift
In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and simultaneous increase in f ...
of z = 0.105, GRB 031203 was both the closest and faintest gamma-ray burst that had ever been observed.
It was about 1.3 billion light-years from Earth. Gamma-ray bursts, which generally emit roughly the same amount of energy, had previously been treated as
standard candles
The cosmic distance ladder (also known as the extragalactic distance scale) is the succession of methods by which astronomers determine the distances to celestial objects. A ''direct'' distance measurement of an astronomical object is possible o ...
. However, GRB 031203 and the earlier
GRB 980425
GRB 980425 was a gamma-ray burst (GRB) that was detected on 25 April 1998 at 21:49 UTC. GRB 980425 occurred at approximately the same time as SN 1998bw, providing the first evidence that gamma-ray bursts and supernovae are related, and at a dist ...
were notable exceptions to the standard candle model due to their low energy output. This led some researchers to believe that GRB 031203 may have been an
X-ray flash, viewed off-axis,
or a member of a previously unknown population of nearby faint bursts.
See also
*
List of gamma-ray bursts The following is a list of significant gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) listed in chronological order. GRBs are named after the date on which they were detected: the first two numbers correspond to the year, the second two numbers to the month, and the last ...
Notes
{{Portal bar, Physics, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System
031203
20031203
December 2003 events