Editor's Summary
11 September 2008
GRB 080319B: fit to burst
The 
-ray burst GRB 080319B, the result of the violent collapse of a massive star to form a black hole, is the most luminous optical flash so far observed in the 40-year history of -ray astronomy. Discovered by the Swift satellite on 19 March 2008 and briefly visible to the naked eye, it produces energy across the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Now a reanalysis of the extraordinarily bright emissions of GRB 080319B within a few seconds of its formation, together with broadband observations of its decay over the following few weeks, provide the clearest picture yet of one of these events. The data clearly establish that the prompt optical flash was produced in the same physical region as the -ray burst itself. The afterglow properties cannot be explained by the standard simple models, but rather imply a multi-component jet interpretation.
News and Views: Gamma-ray bursts: Light on the distant Universe
Observations of a long-lasting -ray burst, one that has the brightest optical counterpart yet discovered, challenge theoretical understanding of these bursts but may enhance their usefulness as cosmic probes.
Jonathan Grindlay
doi:10.1038/455177a
Article: Broadband observations of the naked-eye 
-ray burst GRB 080319B
J. L. Racusin, S. V. Karpov, M. Sokolowski, J. Granot, X. F. Wu, V. Pal'shin, S. Covino, A. J. van der Horst, S. R. Oates, P. Schady, R. J. Smith, J. Cummings, R. L. C. Starling, L. W. Piotrowski, B. Zhang, P. A. Evans, S. T. Holland, K. Malek, M. T. Page, L. Vetere, R. Margutti, C. Guidorzi, A. P. Kamble, P. A. Curran, A. Beardmore, C. Kouveliotou, L. Mankiewicz, A. Melandri, P. T. O'Brien, K. L. Page, T. Piran, N. R. Tanvir, G. Wrochna, R. L. Aptekar, S. Barthelmy, C. Bartolini, G. M. Beskin, S. Bondar, M. Bremer, S. Campana, A. Castro-Tirado, A. Cucchiara, M. Cwiok, P. D'Avanzo, V. D'Elia, M. Della Valle, A. de Ugarte Postigo, W. Dominik, A. Falcone, F. Fiore, D. B. Fox, D. D. Frederiks, A. S. Fruchter, D. Fugazza, M. A. Garrett, N. Gehrels, S. Golenetskii, A. Gomboc, J. Gorosabel, G. Greco, A. Guarnieri, S. Immler, M. Jelinek, G. Kasprowicz, V. La Parola, A. J. Levan, V. Mangano, E. P. Mazets, E. Molinari, A. Moretti, K. Nawrocki, P. P. Oleynik, J. P. Osborne, C. Pagani, S. B. Pandey, Z. Paragi, M. Perri, A. Piccioni, E. Ramirez-Ruiz, P. W. A. Roming, I. A. Steele, R. G. Strom, V. Testa, G. Tosti, M. V. Ulanov, K. Wiersema, R. A. M. J. Wijers, J. M. Winters, A. F. Zarnecki, F. Zerbi, P. Mészáros, G. Chincarini & D. N. Burrows
doi:10.1038/nature07270
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (347K) | Supplementary information
