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Astrophysics

refreshed shocks from a γ-ray burst

Abstract

In addition to its remarkable supernova signature1,2, the γ-ray burst of 29 March 2003 (GRB030329) had two interesting peculiarities: an unusually low-energy output in γ-rays and a large bump in its afterglow light curve after 1–2 days (followed by several less significant rebrightening episodes). We suggest that refreshed shocks — slow shells ejected from the source that catch up with the afterglow shock a relatively long time after the initial burst — produced the observed fluctuations in the early afterglow light curve and explain the low-energy output at early times.

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Figure 1: Refreshed shocks in γ-ray bursts.

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Correspondence to Ehud Nakar.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Granot, J., Nakar, E. & Piran, T. refreshed shocks from a γ-ray burst. Nature 426, 138–139 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/426138a

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