What did we learn from the extremely bright gamma ray bursts 990123 and 080319B?

TL;DR

This paper analyzes two extremely bright gamma-ray bursts, 990123 and 080319B, using the cannonball model to explain their multiwavelength emissions through inverse Compton scattering and synchrotron radiation.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the cannonball model effectively describes the prompt and afterglow emissions of these bright GRBs within a high-density wind environment.

Findings

GRBs 990123 and 080319B are ordinary, highly collimated bursts from supernovae.

Inverse Compton scattering and synchrotron radiation explain their lightcurves.

A simple model accurately fits multiwavelength observations.

Abstract

The two brightest and so far the best studied gamma ray bursts (GRBs), 990123 and 080319B, were ordinary, highly collimated GRBs produced in a core collapse supernova explosion within a high-density wind environment and observed from a very near-axis viewing angle. Inverse Compton scattering (ICS) and synchrotron radiation (SR), the two dominant radiation mechanisms in the cannonball (CB) model of GRBs, together with the burst environment, provide a very simple and sufficiently accurate description of the multiwavelength lightcurves of their prompt and afterglow emissions.