Taken on 2003-04-01.
Taken on 2003-04-02.
Taken on 2003-04-07. This image shows that the optical afterglow is no longer there. There are also three small Galaxies in the field.
Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are one of the most violent explosions that happen in the Universe. They are not understood very well, but more data is being collected by amateur and professional astronomers. They could be the output from the merging of two neutron stars or black holes. These bursts can leave an optical afterglow, which normally lasts only a few hours, and are seen to come as far as 11 - 12 billion light years away!! These optical after glows can be imaged by amateurs if you can get to them in time.
An optical afterglow was seen on2003-03-29 at RA: 10:44:50.0, Dec: 21:31:17.8. I managed to get an image on 2003-04-01 and 2003-04-02. This afterglow has gone through a few outbursts which have maintained its brightness, which is very unusual.
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Taken on 2003-04-01. |
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Taken on 2003-04-02. |
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Taken on 2003-04-07. This image shows that the optical afterglow is no longer there. There are also three small Galaxies in the field. |