- GRB 971214
GRB 971214 is a
gamma ray burst observed in1997 . It originated 12 billionlight year s away. For a brief period this was thought by some researchers to have been the most energetic event observed in the universe, but this claim has since been discredited.In
1998 it was hypothesized byGeorge Djorgovski that the outburst put out more energy than several hundred typicalsupernovae , or the energy our galaxy puts out over a couple of centuries. However, it was quickly realised that this was anupper limit as it is likely that the burst was directed towards Earth. If the jet had an opening angle of only a few degrees, the burst energy could have been thousands of times lower. The X-ray afterglow and the host galaxy of the GRB have also been observed, usingBeppoSAX andKeck II respectively. The host galaxy lies atredshift z=3.4.Quotes
* "For about one or two seconds, this burst was as luminous as all the rest of the entire universe". (George Djorgovski)
*"In a region about a hundred miles across, the burst created conditions like those in the early universe, about one millisecond (1/1000th of a second) after theBig Bang ". (George Djorgovski)Both of these comments are probably incorrect, as it is generally thought that the energy emitted by this GRB was beamed towards Earth. [cite journal
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1999ApJ...519L..17S&db_key=AST
author=Sari, R.; Piran, T.; Halpern, J. P.
date=1999
title=Jets in Gamma-Ray Bursts
journal=Astrophysical Journal
volume=519
pages=L17-L20] Djorgovski incorrectly assumed that the radiation was emitted spherically, leading to an energy estimate that was vastly in excess of what the true energy release likely was. This and other gamma-ray bursts are now believed to have energy releases not much greater than very luminous supernovae. [cite journal
url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=2001ApJ...562L..55F&db_key=AST
author=Frail, D.A. et al.
date=2001
title=Beaming in Gamma-Ray Bursts: Evidence for a Standard Energy Reservoir
journal=Astrophysical Journal
volume=562
pages=L55-L58 ]References
External links
* [http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/1998/17/text/ Gamma-Ray Burst Found to be Most Energetic Event in Universe] (HubbleSite)
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