arXiv subjects

R. Aptekar

Publications and source records attributed to R. Aptekar.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2000

Interplanetary Network Localization of GRB991208 and the Discovery of its Afterglow

The extremely energetic (~10^-4 erg/cm^2) gamma-ray burst (GRB) of 1999 December 8 was triangulated to a ~14 sq. arcmin. error box ~1.8 d after its arrival at Earth with the 3rd interplanetary network (IPN), consisting of the Ulysses, Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), and WIND spacecraft. Radio observations with the Very Large Array ~2.7 d after the burst revealed a bright fading counterpart whose position is consistent with that of an optical transient source whose redshift is z=0.707. We present the time history, peak flux, fluence, and refined 1.3 sq. arcmin. error box of this event, and discuss its energetics. This is the first time that a counterpart has been found for a GRB localized only by the IPN.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1998

A giant, periodic flare from the soft gamma repeater SGR1900+14

Soft gamma repeaters are high-energy transient sources associated with neutron stars in young supernova remnants. They emit sporadic, short (~ 0.1 s) bursts with soft energy spectra during periods of intense activity. The event of March 5, 1979 was the most intense and the only clearly periodic one to date. Here we report on an even more intense burst on August 27, 1998, from a different soft gamma repeater, which displayed a hard energy spectrum at its peak, and was followed by a ~300 s long tail with a soft energy spectrum and a dramatic 5.16 s period. Its peak and time integrated energy fluxes at Earth are the largest yet observed from any cosmic source. This event was probably initiated by a massive disruption of the neutron star crust, followed by an outflow of energetic particles rotating with the period of the star. Comparison of these two bursts supports the idea that magnetic energy plays an important role, and that such giant flares, while rare, are not unique, and may occur at any time in the neutron star's activity cycle.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

3rd Interplanetary Network Localization, Time History, Fluence, Peak Flux, and Distance Lower Limit of the February 28, 1997 Gamma-Ray Burst

The gamma-ray burst of 1997 February 28 was localized using the arrival-time analysis method with the Ulysses, BeppoSAX, and WIND spacecraft. The result is a plus-or-minus 31.5 arcsec (3 sigma) wide annulus of possible arrival directions which intersects both the position of the burst determined independently by the SAX Wide Field Camera, and the position of a fading X-ray source detected by the SAX focussing X-ray telescopes, and reduces these source location areas by factors of 7 and 1.5 respectively. The combination of the annulus and the SAX locations, a 0.76 square arcminute error box, is consistent with that of an optical transient source and an extended object, possibly a galaxy. We also present the time history, peak flux, and fluence of this event, and derive a model-independent lower limit to the source distance of ~11000 AU.

astro-ph↗