GRB 070714B

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title: "GRB 070714B" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["short-duration-gamma-ray-bursts", "astronomical-objects-discovered-in-2007", "july-2007", "taurus-(constellation)"] description: "Highly luminous gamma ray burst from a neutron star merger" topic_path: "general/short-duration-gamma-ray-bursts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRB_070714B" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Highly luminous gamma ray burst from a neutron star merger ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox astronomical event"]

Field	Value
ra
dec
energy	1.2 ergs
name	GRB 070714B
::

| ra = | dec = | energy = 1.2 ergs |name=GRB 070714B|caption=Illustration of GRB 070714B|image=GRB 070714B 1.jpg}}

GRB 070714B was a gamma-ray burst (GRB) that was detected on 14 July 2007 at 04:59 UTC. A gamma-ray burst is a highly luminous flash associated with an explosion in a distant galaxy and producing gamma rays, the most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation, and often followed by a longer-lived "afterglow" emitted at longer wavelengths (X-ray, ultraviolet, optical, infrared, and radio).

At a total duration of only 3 seconds, GRB 070714B was classified as a short burst, a subclass of GRBs which is believed to be caused by the merger of two neutron stars. GRB 070714B had a redshift of z = 0.92, corresponding to a distance of about 7.4 billion light years, making it the most distant short burst detected as of 2007.

Observations

GRB 070714B was detected by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission satellite on 14 July 2007 at 04:59 UTC. The burst lasted only 3 seconds and reached its peak intensity 0.2 seconds after the initial detection. The optical afterglow was detected by the Liverpool Telescope and the William Herschel Telescope.

Distance record

Spectroscopy of the optical afterglow and the burst's host galaxy revealed a single emission line of oxygen at a redshift of z = 0.92. This corresponds to a distance of 7.4 billion light years, making it the oldest and most distant short burst ever detected. The previous record holder had been GRB 051221A at a redshift of z = 0.546. At a redshift of z = 0.92, the total energy released by GRB 070714B (assuming isotropic emission) was approximately 1.2 ergs, which is several orders of magnitude higher than short-duration bursts with a redshift less than z = 0.5, but still significantly smaller than typical long-duration bursts.

Notes

References

1. Barthelmy, Scott. (14 July 2007). "GRB 070714: Swift detection of a bright burst, possibly short". GCN Circulars.
2. Melandri, Andrea. (14 July 2007). "GRB 070714 : Liverpool Telescope optical counterpart?". GCN Circulars.
3. Levan, Andrew. (14 July 2007). "GRB 070714B: confirmation of optical afterglow". GCN Circulars.
4. Graham, J. F.. (3 June 2009). "GRB 070714B—Discovery of the Highest Spectroscopically Confirmed Short Burst Redshift". The Astrophysical Journal.
5. Naeye, Robert. (8 January 2008). "NASA and Gemini Probe Mysterious Distant Explosion". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
6. Soderberg, A. M.. (10 October 2006). "The Afterglow, Energetics, and Host Galaxy of the Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Burst 051221a". The Astrophysical Journal.
7. Cenko, S. Bradley. (7 February 2008). "GRBs 070429B and 070714B: The High End of the Short-Duration Gamma-Ray Burst Redshift Distribution". The Astrophysical Journal.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::