Three precise gamma-ray burst source locations

The precise source regions of three moderately intense γ-ray bursts are derived. These events were observed with the first interplanetary burst sensor network on 1978 November 24 and 1979 November 5 and 16. The optimum locations of the detectors, widely separated throughout the inner solar system, allowed for high-accuracy, overdetermined source fields of size 0.7-7 arcmin2. All three locations are at fairly high galactic latitude in regions of low source confusion; none can be identified with a steady source object. A search in archived photographs for transients that can be associated with these source fields, however, produced one of the two optical flash events described in the companion Letter by Schaefer and colleagues. These provide the first confirmation of the γ-ray burst/optical transient association discovered by Schaefer in 1981