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GRB 130427A was extremely bright as a result of occurring at low redshift whilst the energetics were more typical of high-redshift gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We collected well-sampled light curves at 1.4 and 4.8 GHz of GRB 130427A with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT); and we obtained its most accurate position with the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network (EVN). Our flux density measurements are combined with all the data available at radio, optical and X-ray frequencies to perform broadband modeling in the framework of a reverse-forward shock model and a two-component jet model, and we discuss the implications and limitations of both models. The low density inferred from the modeling implies that the GRB 130427A progenitor is either a very low-metallicity Wolf-Rayet star, or a rapidly rotating, low-metallicity O star. We also find that the fraction of the energy in electrons is evolving over time, and that the fraction of electrons participating in a relativistic power-law energy distribution is less than 15%. We observed intraday variability during the earliest WSRT observations, and the source sizes inferred from our modeling are consistent with this variability being due to interstellar scintillation effects. Finally, we present and discuss our limits on the linear and circular polarization, which are among the deepest limits of GRB radio polarization to date., 14 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables; accepted for publication in MNRAS

The discovery of X-ray, optical and radio afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and the measurements of the distances to some of them have established that these events come from Gpc distances and are the most powerful photon emitters known in the Universe, with peak luminosities up to 10^52 erg/s. We here report the discovery of an optical transient, in the BeppoSAX Wide Field Camera error box of GRB980425, which occurred within about a day of the gamma-ray burst. Its optical light curve, spectrum and location in a spiral arm of the galaxy ESO 184-G82, at a redshift z = 0.0085, show that the transient is a very luminous type Ic supernova, SN1998bw. The peculiar nature of SN1998bw is emphasized by its extraordinary radio properties which require that the radio emitter expand at relativistical speed. Since SN1998bw is very different from all previously observed afterglows of GRBs, our discovery raises the possibility that very different mechanisms may give rise to GRBs, which differ little in their gamma-ray properties.

Some intra-day variable, compact extra-galactic radio sources show brightness temperatures severely exceeding 10^{12} K, the limit set by catastrophic inverse-Compton (IC) cooling in sources of incoherent synchrotron radiation. The violation of the IC limit, possible under non-stationary conditions, would lead to IC avalanches in the soft-gamma-ray energy band during transient periods. For the first time, broadband signatures of possible IC catastrophes were searched for in S5 0716+71. A multifrequency observing campaign targetting S5 0716+71 was carried out in November 2003 under the framework of the European Network for the Investigation of Galactic nuclei through Multifrequency Analysis (ENIGMA) together with a campaign by the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT), involving a pointing by the soft-gamma-ray satellite INTEGRAL, optical, near-infrared, sub-millimeter, millimeter, radio, and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) monitoring. S5 0716+71 was very bright at radio frequencies and in a rather faint optical state during the INTEGRAL pointing; significant inter-day and low intra-day variability was recorded in the radio regime, while typical fast variability features were observed in the optical band. No correlation was found between the radio and optical emission. The source was not detected by INTEGRAL, neither by the X-ray monitor JEM-X nor by the gamma-ray imager ISGRI, but upper limits to the source emission in the 3-200 keV energy band were estimated. A brightness temperature Tb>2.1x10^{14} K was inferred from the radio variability, but no corresponding signatures of IC avalanches were recorded at higher energies. The absence of IC-catastrophe signatures provides either a lower limit delta>8 to the Doppler factor affecting the radio emission or strong constraints for modelling of the Compton catastrophes in S5 0716+71., 15 pages, 3 EPS figures, 3 tables, to appear in A&A

We present the R_c band light curve of the optical transient (OT) associated with GRB970228, based on re-evaluation of existing photometry. Data obtained until April 1997 suggested a slowing down of the decay of the optical brightness. However, the HST observations in September 1997 show that the light curve of the point source is well represented by a single power law, with a ``dip'', about a week after the burst occured. The exponent of the power law decay is $\alpha$ = --1.10 $\pm$ 0.04. As the point source weakened it also became redder., Comment: 5 pages, latex, to appear in Gamma-Ray Bursts, 4-th Huntsville Symposium, eds Meegan, Preece, Koshut