Andersen MI, Castro-Tirado AJ, Hjorth J, Moller P, Pedersen H, Caon N, Cairos LM, Korhonen H, Osorio MR, Perez E, Frontera F. Spectroscopic limits on the distance and energy release of GRB 990123.
Science 1999;
283:2075-7. [PMID:
10092228 DOI:
10.1126/science.283.5410.2075]
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Abstract
An optical spectrum of the afterglow from the unusually bright gamma-ray burst GRB 990123 obtained on 24.25 January 1999 universal time showed an absorption system at a redshift of z = 1.600. The absence of a hydrogen Lyman alpha forest sets an upper limit of z < 2.17, whereas ultraviolet photometry indicates an upper limit of z < 2.05. The probability of intersecting an absorption system as strong as the one observed along a random line of sight out to this z is at most a few percent, implying that GRB 990123 was probably at z = 1. 600. Currently favored cosmological parameters imply that an isotropic energy release equivalent to the rest mass of 1.8 neutron stars (4.5 x 10(54) erg) was emitted in gamma rays. Nonisotropic emission, such as intrinsic beaming, may resolve this energy problem.
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