GRB 130427A: a chance not to miss

On 27 April, an incredible opportunity was given to GRB science detectives. As the spring was outbursting here in Stockholm the explosion of a distant star almost blinded the Gamma ray Burst Monitor (GBM) detectors on board the Fermi satellite. GRB130427 is the brightest GRB ever detected in the keV - MeV band and the longest lasting in the GeV energy range: Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) could detect it for hours after the trigger.
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The missing star or the Supernova 2011dh

A bright supernova appeared in the fairly "nearby" (24 million light years) Whirlpool galaxy (M51) in late August 2011. It was named Supernova 2011dh. Images taken using the Hubble Space Telescope of the galaxy before the explosion showed a star at the position of the supernova, but astronomers argued whether this was indeed the star that exploded. Now we know!
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