Abstract
We report a first observation of an ionospheric disturbance from a gamma-ray burst. The burst, GB830801, occurred at 22:14:18 UT on 1 August 1983 and was one of the strongest ever observed. The total fluence was 2 x 10–3 erg cm–2, most of which occurred in the first 4 s of the burst. Simultaneously, a change was observed in the amplitude of a very-low-frequency (VLF) radio signal from a transmitter in Rugby, England, monitored at Palmer Station, Antarctica, indicative of an ionospheric disturbance. Weaker disturbances were also recorded at the same receiving site on signals from VLF stations in Annapolis, Maryland and Lualualei, Hawaii. The times of the burst and the disturbances are coincident within the 10-s resolution of the VLF recording system. No similar disturbances were observed within 60 h around the time of the burst. In the future, a network of VLF burst monitors may provide measurements of the total ionizing energy fluence from a burst, as well as some limited directional information.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Get just this article for as long as you need it
$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Sechrist, C. S. Jr Radio Sci. 9, 137–149 (1974).
Watt, A. D. VLF Radio Engineering (Pergamon, Oxford, 1967).
Kikuchi, T. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 48, 15–23 (1986).
Tolstoy, A., Rosenberg, T. J., Inan, U. S. & Carpenter, D. L. J. geophys. Res. 91, 13473–13482 (1986).
Tolstoy, A. thesis Univ. Maryland (1983).
Mitra, A. P. Ionospheric Effects of Solar Flares (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1974).
Kreplin, R. W., Chubb, T. A. & Friedman, H. J. geophys. Res. 67, 2231–2253 (1962).
Kaufmann, P. & Paes de Barros, M. H. Sol. Phys. 9, 478–486 (1969).
Kaufmann, P. & Rizzo Piazza, L. Sol. Phys. 57, 479–481 (1978).
Bain, W. C. & Hammon, E. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 37, 573–574 (1975).
Potemra, T. A. & Rosenberg, T. J. J. geophys. Res. 78, 1572–1580 (1973).
Westerlund, S. & Reder, F. H. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 35, 1453–1474 (1973).
Helliwell, R. A., Katsufrakis, J. P. & Trimpi, M. L. J. geophys. Res. 78, 4679–4688 (1973).
Muraoka, Y. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 41, 1031–1042 (1979).
Kikuchi, T. & Evans, D. S. J. geophys. Res. 88, 871–880 (1983).
Inan, U. S., Carpenter, D. L., Helliwell, R. A. & Katsufrakis, J. P. J. geophys. Res. 90, 7457–7469 (1985).
Inan, U. S. & Carpenter, D. L. J. geophys. Res. 92, 3293–3303 (1987).
Goldberg, R. A., Barcus, J. R., Hale, L. C. & Curtis, S. A. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 48, 293–299 (1986).
Ananthakrishnan, S. & Ramanathan, K. Nature 223, 488–489 (1969).
Svennesson, J. & Westerlund, S. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 41, 361–365 (1969).
Svennesson, J., Reder, F. & Crouchley, J. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 34, 49–72 (1972).
Kaufmann, P., Piazza, L. R. & Ananthakrishnan, S. Astrophys. Space Sci. 22, 67–70 (1973).
Kasturirangan, K., Rao, U. R., Sharma, D. P., Rastogi, R. C. & Chakravarty, S. C. Astrophys. Space Sci. 42, 57–62 (1976).
Rizzo Piazza, L., Kaufmann, P. & Ramirez Pardo, P. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 45, 121–125 (1983).
Hudson, H. & TeKolste, R. Bull. Am. astr. Soc. 16, 982 (1984).
Brown, R. T. Nature 246, 83–84 (1973).
Deeks, D. G. Proc. R. Soc. Ser. A, 291, 413–425 (1966).
Baird, G. A. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 36, 1565–1569 (1974).
O'Mongain, E. & Baird, G. A. Astrophys. Space Sci. 42, 63–67 (1976).
Weekes, T. C. J. atmos. terr. Phys. 38, 1021–1026 (1976).
Kuznetsov, A. V. et al. Sov. Astr. Lett. 12, 315–318 (1986).
Boer, M. et al. Adv. Space Res. 6, 97–102 (1986).
Laros, J. in Gamma Ray Bursts (eds Liang, E. P. & Petrosian, V.) 84–86 (AIP Press, New York, 1986).
Solar-Geophysical Data No. 474 Part II, 6 (NOAA, Boulder, 1984).
Mazets, E. et al. Astrophys. space Sci. 80, 3–83 (1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fishman, G., Inan, U. Observation of an ionospheric disturbance caused by a gamma-ray burst. Nature 331, 418–420 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/331418a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/331418a0
This article is cited by
-
Extraction of Alpha transmitter signals from single-station observations using the direction-finding method
Science China Technological Sciences (2022)
-
On the Use of VLF Narrowband Measurements to Study the Lower Ionosphere and the Mesosphere–Lower Thermosphere
Surveys in Geophysics (2017)
-
Detection of ionospheric perturbation due to a soft gamma ray repeater SGR J1550-5418 by very low frequency radio waves
Astrophysics and Space Science (2012)
-
First VLF detections of ionospheric disturbances due to Soft Gamma Ray Repeater SGR J1550-5418 and Gamma Ray Burst GRB 090424
Indian Journal of Physics (2010)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
