The Discovery of a Hyperluminal Source in the Radio Afterglow of GRB 030329

Abstract

Taylor, Frail, Berger and Kulkarni have made precise VLBI measurements of the size and position of the source of the radio afterglow of GRB 030329. They report a size evolution compatible with standard fireball models, proper motion limits inconsistent with the cannonball model, and a double source, i.e. "an additional compact component" on day 51 after the GRB, totally unexpected in the standard models. We outline a consistent interpretation of the ensemble of the data in the realm of the cannonball model. The observed double source is a radio image of the two cannonballs required in this model to explain the gamma-ray and optical light curves of this GRB; their separation agrees with the expectation. Thus interpreted, the observation of the two sources --separated by a "hyperluminal" distance-- is a major discovery in astrophysics: it pins down the origin of GRBs.