Event type Supernova Date 26 April 1998 Declination −52° 50′ 45.9″ | Spectral class Type Ic Right ascension 19 35 03.30 Constellation Telescopium | |
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Other designations SN 1998bw, AAVSO 1927-53 Similar GRB 060218, GRB 060614, SN 1993J, GRB 990123, SN 2008D | ||
SN 1998bw was a rare broad-lined Type Ic gamma ray burst supernova detected on 26 April 1998 in the ESO 184-G82 spiral galaxy, which some astronomers believe may be an example of a collapsar. The supernova has been linked to GRB 980425, which was detected on 25 April 1998, the first time a gamma-ray burst has been linked to a supernova. The supernova is approximately 140 million light years away, very close for a gamma ray burst source.
The region of the galaxy where the supernova occurred hosts stars 5-8 million years old and is relatively free from dust. A nearby region hosts multiple Wolf-Rayet stars less than 3 million years old, but it is unlikely that the supernova progenitor could be a runaway from that region. The implication is that the progenitor was a star originally 25-40 M☉ if it exploded as a single star at the end of its life.