Two probable optical flashes from gamma-ray bursters

Abstract

Two images on archival photographic plates which are most likely records of optical flashes from gamma-ray bursters (GRBs) were examined. One of these images appears on a 1901 plate in the field of the Nov. 5, 1979 GRB, while the other is in the field of the Jan. 13, 1979 GRB on a plate exposed in 1944. The 1901 optical transient image is circular in shape, while all normal star images are trailed by 8 in. No optical transients are found in a control region which is 34.3 times larger than the GRB error regions examined. Independent limits on the optical flash rate from the sky yield a probability of less than 0.0001 that any one of the optical transients is due to a background flash. A total exposure of 2.7 years was examined for GRB flashes at known GRB locations on the Harvard plates and a total of three GRB flashes were seen, that the average recurrence time scale for optical flashes is roughly one year. The optical fluence of these optical flashes was measured. For the three currently known GRB optical flashes, the ratio of gamma-ray fluence (from a modern burst) to the optical fluence (from a archival burst) were measured to be 800, 900, and 900.