Astronomers uncover briefest supernova-powered gamma-ray burst

Dragon

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Astronomers uncover briefest supernova-powered gamma-ray burst

Post by Dragon Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:05 am

Astronomers have discovered the shortest-ever gamma-ray burst (GRB) caused by the implosion of a massive star.

Using the international Gemini Observatory, a program of NSF's NOIRLab, astronomers identified the cause of this 0.6-second flurry of gamma rays as a supernova explosion in a distant galaxy.

GRBs caused by supernovae are usually more than twice as long, which suggests that some short GRBs might actually be imposters—supernova-produced GRBs in disguise.

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Astronomers uncover briefest supernova-powered gamma-ray burst 334pu7m

Dragon

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Re: Astronomers uncover briefest supernova-powered gamma-ray burst

Post by Dragon Wed Jul 28, 2021 3:07 am

Astronomers uncover briefest supernova-powered gamma-ray burst Astronomers-uncover-br

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva

This illustration depicts a collapsing star that is producing two short gamma-ray jets.

Just before a massive, collapsing star explodes as a supernova, we often observe a gamma-ray burst (a brief explosion of gamma-ray radiation) if the jets are pointed toward Earth.

Most known supernova-produced gamma-ray bursts are “long” (lasting more than two seconds), but one called GRB 200826 was “short” (lasting just 0.6 second).

Astronomers think this, and possibly other short supernova-produced gamma-ray bursts, appeared short because the jets of gamma rays aren’t strong enough to completely escape the star.

This would produce jets that are shorter in both length and duration.

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Astronomers uncover briefest supernova-powered gamma-ray burst 334pu7m