What did we learn from the extremely bright gamma ray bursts 990123 and 080319B?

The two brightest and so far the best studied gamma ray bursts (GRBs), 990123 and 080319B, were ordinary, highly collimated GRBs produced in a core collapse supernova explosion within a high-density wind environment and observed from a very near-axis viewing angle. Inverse Compton scattering (ICS) and synchrotron radiation (SR), the two dominant radiation mechanisms in the cannonball (CB) model of GRBs, together with the burst environment, provide a very simple and sufficiently accurate description of the multiwavelength lightcurves of their prompt and afterglow emissions.