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Letters to Nature

Nature 423, 847-850 (19 June 2003) | doi:10.1038/nature01750; Received 16 April 2003; Accepted 20 May 2003

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A very energetic supernova associated with the big gamma-ray burst of 29 March 2003

Jens Hjorth1, Jesper Sollerman2, Palle Møller3, Johan P. U. Fynbo4, Stan E. Woosley5, Chryssa Kouveliotou6, Nial R. Tanvir7, Jochen Greiner8, Michael I. Andersen9, Alberto J. Castro-Tirado10, José María Castro Cerón11, Andrew S. Fruchter11, Javier Gorosabel11,10, Páll Jakobsson1, Lex Kaper12, Sylvio Klose13, Nicola Masetti14, Holger Pedersen1, Kristian Pedersen1, Elena Pian15, Eliana Palazzi14, James E. Rhoads11, Evert Rol12, Edward P. J. van den Heuvel12, Paul M. Vreeswijk16, Darach Watson1 & Ralph A. M. J. Wijers12

  1. Astronomical Observatory, NBIfAFG, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
  2. Stockholm Observatory, Department of Astronomy, AlbaNova, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
  3. European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany
  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade, DK-8000 Århus C, Denmark
  5. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
  6. NSSTC, SD-50, 320 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, Alabama 35805, USA
  7. Department of Physical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UK
  8. Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, D-85741 Garching, Germany
  9. Astrophysikalisches Institut, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany
  10. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), PO Box 03004, E-18080 Granada, Spain
  11. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
  12. Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek, Kruislaan 403, NL-1098 SJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
  13. Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, D-07778 Tautenburg, Germany
  14. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica - Sezione di Bologna, CNR, via Gobetti 101, I-40129, Bologna, Italy
  15. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34131 Trieste, Italy
  16. European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile

Correspondence to: Jens Hjorth1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.H. (Email: jens@astro.ku.dk).

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Over the past five years evidence has mounted that long-duration (>2 s) gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)—the most luminous of all astronomical explosions—signal the collapse of massive stars in our Universe. This evidence was originally based on the probable association of one unusual GRB with a supernova1, but now includes the association of GRBs with regions of massive star formation in distant galaxies2, 3, the appearance of supernova-like 'bumps' in the optical afterglow light curves of several bursts4, 5, 6 and lines of freshly synthesized elements in the spectra of a few X-ray afterglows7. These observations support, but do not yet conclusively demonstrate, the idea that long-duration GRBs are associated with the deaths of massive stars, presumably arising from core collapse. Here we report evidence that a very energetic supernova (a hypernova) was temporally and spatially coincident with a GRB at redshift z = 0.1685. The timing of the supernova indicates that it exploded within a few days of the GRB, strongly suggesting that core-collapse events can give rise to GRBs, thereby favouring the 'collapsar' model8, 9.

  1. Astronomical Observatory, NBIfAFG, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
  2. Stockholm Observatory, Department of Astronomy, AlbaNova, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
  3. European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany
  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Aarhus, Ny Munkegade, DK-8000 Århus C, Denmark
  5. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064, USA
  6. NSSTC, SD-50, 320 Sparkman Drive, Huntsville, Alabama 35805, USA
  7. Department of Physical Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, AL10 9AB, UK
  8. Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik, D-85741 Garching, Germany
  9. Astrophysikalisches Institut, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany
  10. Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), PO Box 03004, E-18080 Granada, Spain
  11. Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA
  12. Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek, Kruislaan 403, NL-1098 SJ Amsterdam, Netherlands
  13. Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, D-07778 Tautenburg, Germany
  14. Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica - Sezione di Bologna, CNR, via Gobetti 101, I-40129, Bologna, Italy
  15. INAF, Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via G.B. Tiepolo 11, I-34131 Trieste, Italy
  16. European Southern Observatory, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile

Correspondence to: Jens Hjorth1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.H. (Email: jens@astro.ku.dk).