RAPTOR Images GRB 021211
Explanation:
On December 11 astronomers found one of the brightest and most distant
explosions in the Universe -
a gamma-ray burst -
hiding in the glare of a relatively nearby star.
The earliest image of the burst's visible
light was caught by an
earthbound RAPTOR
(RAPid Telescopes for Optical Response).
The two exposures inset above were taken by a RAPTOR unit
about 65 seconds (left) and
9 minutes (top right) after high-energy radiation from
the burst, dutifully cataloged as
GRB 021211, was identified by the
orbiting
HETE-2 satellite.
One of only two optical transients (OTs)
ever found at times so
close to a burst's
gamma-ray
emission, the fading visible light source is indicated by arrows,
blended with the image of foreground stars toward
the constellation
Canis Minor.
The RAPTOR unit (lower inset) is designed with
peripheral low resolution cameras and a central, sensitive
high resolution imager, in analogy with a predator's vision.
In the future, the RAPTOR project expects its
innovative instruments to be able to
independently discover and catalog a host of cosmic things that go
bump in the night.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
