Amateur Astronomer Catches Record Setting Gamma-Ray Burst

Amateur Astronomer Catches Record Setting Gamma-Ray Burst

Fermi’s before and after view of the region where GRB 120427A occurred with constellations Leo and Ursa Major overlaid for context. (Credit: NASA/DoE/Fermi LAT).

Vigilance and a little luck paid off recently for an amateur astronomer.

On April 27th, 2013 a long lasting gamma-ray burst was recorded in the northeastern section of the constellation Leo. As reported here on Universe Today, the burst was the most energetic ever seen, peaking at about 94 billion electron volts as seen by Fermi’s Large Area Telescope. In addition to Fermi’s Gamma Ray Burst Monitor, the Swift satellite and a battery of ground based instruments also managed to quickly swing into action and record the burst as it was underway.

Patrick Wiggins’ capture of the optical counterpart to GRB 130427A with extrapolated light curve. Note that the Moon was just two days past Full in the direction of the constellation Libra at the time, hence the sky glow! (Credit: Patrick Wiggins).

But professionals weren’t the only ones to capture the event. Amateur astronomer Patrick Wiggins was awake at the time, doing routine observations from his observatory based near Toole, Utah when the alert message arrived. He quickly swung his C-14 telescope into action at the coordinates of the burst at 11 Hours 32’ and 33” Right Ascension and +27° 41’ 56” declination.

Readmore:http://www.universetoday.com/102017/amateur-astronomer-catches-record-setting-gamma-ray-burst/#ixzz2Smck7z8I