The picture shows a model of a gamma-ray burst (GRB), like the
one detected by on INTEGRAL on 3 December 2003
(GRB 031203). In
this picture a jet of high-energy particles interacts with the
surrounding matter.
GRB 031203 was observed with INTEGRAL as a rather typical GRB
with a duration of 40 seconds. However, given its small
distance (a redshift, z, of about 0.105 derived from optical
observations of the host galaxy; typical redshifts for GRB
are around 1-2) the burst had an unusual low luminosity. This
is reported by Sazonov, Lutovinov and Sunyaev in a recent
Nature paper
(
Vol. 430, p. 646).
Radio observations of the same GRB, supporting the view that it
is a sub-energetic GRB, are reported by Soderberg et al. in the
same issue of Nature
(
Vol. 430, p. 648). They also suggest that
GRB 031203 is the first cosmic analogue to GRB 980425 (a GRB which
was associated with a, peculiar, supernova).
INTEGRAL continues to detect GRB's in the Field of View:
most recent examples are
GRB 040730,
GRB 040812 and
GRB 040827. GRB 040812 was special because it occurred, for
the first time, in the fully coded view of IBIS and JEM-X.
