Teraelectronvolt emission from the γ-ray burst GRB 190114C

Abstract

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) of the long-duration class are the most luminous sources of electromagnetic radiation known in the Universe, triggered by outflows of plasma ejected at near the speed of light by newly formed neutron stars or black holes of stellar mass at cosmological distances 1, 2. Prompt flashes of MeV gamma rays are followed by longer-lasting afterglow emission from radio waves to GeV gamma rays, due to synchrotron radiation by energetic electrons in accompanying shock waves 3, 4. Although emission of higher energy, TeV gamma rays due to other radiation mechanisms had been theoretically predicted in some studies 5-9 , it had never been detected previously, despite numerous attempts to search for them 8, 9. Here we report the discovery of GRB 190114C with the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescopes 10, 11 , the first GRB to be clearly detected in the TeV band after 15 years of dedicated searches. Gamma rays in the energy range 0.3-1 TeV are detected

Cosmic-Ray Extremely Distributed Observatory

“…By comparing the gamma-ray flux at lower energies before and during the GRB, and after extrapolating the ratio to UHE domain, the expected UHE photon fluxes for transient sources were obtained. In the case of MAGIC's observation of GRB 190114C [154], such boosting of the gamma-ray emission in non-transient mode can reach a factor of up to 652, potentially producing an UHE photon flux significantly higher than upper limits put by the Pierre Auger Observatory or Telescope Array. .…”

Follow-up of Astrophysical Transients in Real Time with the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

“…GRB 190114C (δ = −26°.94, ΔT = 3.8 × 10 3 s): This was the first GRB detected by an imaging air Cherenkov telescope to be announced in real time, with emissions in the 0.2-1.0 TeV band, detected by MAGIC (Acciari et al 2019a). Although the high-energy peak in the broadband spectral energy distribution was later shown to be consistent with a synchrotron self-Compton interpretation (Acciari et al 2019b), GRBs have long been thought of as potential sources of astrophysical neutrinos (Waxman & Bahcall 1997).…”

Synergies of THESEUS with the large facilities of the 2030s and guest observer opportunities

“…This field has recently seen tremendous breakthroughs with the detection of VHE emission from GRBs detected by H.E.S.S. (GRB 180720B [81] and GRB 190829A) and MAGIC (GRB 190114C [82,83] and GRB 201216C). As an example, the detection of the close-by and very low luminosity burst GRB 190829A may indicate that the phase space of low luminosity events detectable in large numbers with THESEUS will enable many further joint CTA-THESEUS observations and studies.…”