Could bright gamma-ray burst optical transients have been recorded historically?

Abstract

The brightest optical flash from a gamma-ray burst (GRB) was, briefly, a naked-eye object. Several other GRBs have produced optical transients only slightly fainter. We argue that, based upon the recently accumulated data from hundreds of GRB transients, many such optical events should have been visible to the unaided eye in the course of human history. The most likely repositories of such observations are historical records from the Orient, and we have located and discuss a number of candidates. We also consider the value of such observations, should any very likely ones be uncovered, to modern astrophysics.

9 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Observation of contemporaneous optical radiation from a gamma-ray burst
• Observations of the Naked-Eye GRB 080319B: Implications of Nature's Brightest Explosion
• A statistical study of gamma-ray burst afterglows measured by the Swift Ultra-violet Optical Telescope
• Taxonomy of GRB optical light-curves: identification of a salient class of early afterglows
• The bright optical flash from GRB 060117
• Frequency Limits on Naked-Eye Optical Transients Lasting from Minutes to Years