Tag Archive for 'Gamma-Ray Burst'

A high-energy photonic jet (white and blue) blasts through a collapsar with a black hole at its center; the red space around the jet represents the cocoon where free neutrons may be captured causing the r-process, the nucleosynthesis that results in the formation of heavy elements. Image credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Stars Dissolve into Neutrons to Form Heavy Elements, Study Suggests

Apr 24, 2025 by News Staff

High-energy photons produced deep in gamma-ray burst jets emerging from a collapsed star could dissolve the outer stellar layers into free neutrons, causing...

On November 15, 2023, Integral detected a burst of gamma-rays for only a tenth of a second. The detection was sent to the Integral science data center, where software determined it came from the nearby galaxy Messier 82. The small square on Integral’s map shows the location of the burst. The blue circle on the two cut-out images shows the corresponding location. Image credit: ESA / Integral / XMM-Newton / INAF / TNG / M. Rigoselli, INAF.

Astronomers Detect Giant Flare from Magnetar in Messier 82

Apr 25, 2024 by News Staff

Using sensitive instruments onboard ESA’s International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (Integral) mission, astronomers have detected a gamma-ray burst...

The artistic impression depicts the effect of GRB 221009A that provoked a significant disturbance in our planet’s ionosphere. Image credit: ESA / ATG Europe / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Powerful Gamma-Ray-Burst Caused Significant Disturbance in Earth’s Ionosphere, Astronomers Say

Nov 17, 2023 by News Staff

Using satellite observations, including from ESA’s International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (Integral) mission, and a new developed analytical...

This image from Webb’s NIRCam instrument highlights GRB 230307A’s kilonova and its former home galaxy. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / STScI / A. Levan, IMAPP, Warw / A. Pagan, STScI.

Neutron Star Merger Observed Creating Tellurium and Other Heavy Elements

Oct 26, 2023 by News Staff

Using an array of ground and space-based telescopes, including the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and...

GRB 191019A came from the collision of stars or stellar remnants in the jam-packed environment surrounding a supermassive black hole at the core of an ancient galaxy. Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / M. Garlick / M. Zamani.

Long-Duration Gamma-Ray Burst Traced to Nucleus of Ancient Galaxy

Jun 22, 2023 by News Staff

Unlike most gamma-ray bursts, which are caused by exploding massive stars or the chance mergers of neutron stars, a long gamma-ray burst event dubbed GRB...

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (top left) and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory (sensor strings, bottom). Image credit: NASA / Fermi / Aurore Simonnet, Sonoma State University.

Could Quantum Properties of Spacetime Slow Down Neutrinos?

Jun 13, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, astrophysicists have found preliminary evidence for gamma-ray...

ESA’s XMM-Newton X-ray observatory recorded 20 dust rings, 19 of which are shown here in arbitrary colors. The image merges observations made two and five days after GRB 221009A erupted. Dark stripes indicate gaps between the detectors. A detailed analysis shows that the widest ring visible here, comparable to the apparent size of a full Moon, came from dust clouds located about 1,300 light-years away. The innermost ring arose from dust at a distance of 61,000 light-years -- on the other side of our Galaxy. Image credit: ESA / XMM-Newton / M. Rigoselli, INAF.

Astronomers Capture Reverse Shock Emission from Record-Breaking Gamma-Ray Burst

Mar 28, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers have provided vital information in the global effort to understand GRB 221009A, one of the nearest and possibly the most-energetic gamma-ray...

A neutron star (blue sphere) spins in the center of a colorful disk of gas, some of which follows the magnetic field (blue lines) and flows (blue-white arcs) onto the object’s surface. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab.

Astronomers Discover Short-Lived Superheavy Neutron Stars

Jan 10, 2023 by News Staff

Astronomers have examined data about 700 short gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected with NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope,...

When neutron stars merge, they can produce radioactive ejecta that powers a kilonova signal, as this conceptual image shows. Image credit: Dreamstime.

Hybrid Neutron-Star Merger Detected for the First Time

Dec 7, 2022 by News Staff

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) come in two varieties, long and short. Long GRBs, which last a couple of seconds to one minute, form when a star at least 10 times...

Astronomers think GRB 221009A represents the birth of a new black hole formed within the heart of a collapsing star. In this illustration, the black hole drives powerful jets of particles traveling near the speed of light. The jets pierce through the star, emitting X-rays and gamma rays as they stream into space. Image credit: NASA / Swift / Cruz deWilde.

Astronomers Detect Record-Breaking Gamma-Ray Burst

Oct 16, 2022 by News Staff

GRB 221009A, a gamma-ray burst detected on October 9, 2022, is one of the nearest and possibly the most-energetic gamma-ray burst ever observed. It occurred...

This image, taken by the X-SHOOTER instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows light from GRB 210905A (center). Image credit: ESO / Rossi et al.

Astronomers Detect Powerful Blast in Early Universe

Oct 3, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Astronomers using the X-SHOOTER instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have detected light from a gamma-ray burst at a redshift of 6.3, meaning...

This artist’s conception shows the merger between a neutron star and another star (seen as a disk, lower left) which caused an explosion resulting in SGRB 211106A (white jet, middle), and left behind what astronomers now know to be one of the most luminous afterglows on record (semi-spherical shock wave mid-right); while dust in the host galaxy obscured most of the visible light (shown as colors), millimeter light from the event (depicted in green) was able to escape and reach ALMA. Image credit: ALMA / ESO / NAOJ / NRAO / M. Weiss, NRAO, AUI & NSF.

ALMA Looks at Neutron Star Merger in Millimeter Light

Aug 3, 2022 by News Staff

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have for the first time detected the millimeter afterglow of a short-duration...

This artist’s impression illustrates the merger of two neutron stars, which produces the remarkably brief yet intensely powerful event known as a short gamma-ray burst. Image credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva / Spaceengine.

Castaway Gamma-Ray Bursts Occur in Extremely Distant Galaxies, Astronomers Say

Jul 28, 2022 by News Staff

About 30% of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs), which form during the collisions of neutron stars, lack a coincident host galaxy, raising questions about...

An artist’s impression of a giant magnetar flare. Image credit: Universitat de València.

ASIM Detects Huge Pulsating Flare from Extragalactic Magnetar

Dec 27, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

The giant gamma-ray flare event, designated GRB 2001415, was emitted by a powerful magnetar in NGC 253, an active starburst galaxy approximately 11 million...

This illustration depicts a collapsing star that is producing two short gamma-ray jets. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / J. da Silva / M. Zamani, NOIRLab.

Shortest Supernova-Produced Gamma-Ray Burst Discovered

Jul 28, 2021 by News Staff

Most known supernova-powered gamma-ray bursts are ‘long’ (lasting more than two seconds), but a gamma-ray burst event called GRB 200826A lasted just...

Astronomers Detect High-Energy Gamma Rays from Afterglow of Long Gamma-Ray Burst

Jun 4, 2021 by News Staff

Long gamma-ray bursts are bright flashes of extragalactic gamma rays produced during the collapse of a massive star. A gamma-ray burst itself lasts only...

An artist’s impression of a blazar. Image credit: DESY / Science Communication Lab.

TESS Detects Bright, Long-Lasting Gamma-Ray Burst

May 4, 2021 by News Staff

Astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) exoplanet-hunting mission have detected the rising and decaying optical afterglow...

An artist’s impression of an intermediate-mass black hole. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Astronomers Use Gravitational Lensing Effect to Detect Intermediate-Mass Black Hole

Mar 30, 2021 by News Staff

A gravitationally lensed gamma-ray burst, designated GRB 950830, helped astronomers detect a black hole about 55,000 times more massive than the Sun. An...

The afterglow of GRB 181123B (marked with a circle), captured by the Gemini-North telescope. Image credit: Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / K. Paterson & W. Fong, Northwestern University / Travis Rector, University of Alaska Anchorage / Mahdi Zamani / Davide de Martin.

Short Gamma-Ray Burst Localized to Extremely Distant Galaxy

Jul 16, 2020 by News Staff

An international of astronomers has observed an optical afterglow of a short gamma-ray burst, thought to be from the merger of two neutron stars, and localized...

An artist’s conception illustrates the phenomena that make up the new class of cosmic explosions called fast blue optical transients. Image credit: Bill Saxton / NRAO / AUI / NSF.

New Class of Cosmic Explosions Discovered: Fast Blue Optical Transients

May 28, 2020 by News Staff

Fast blue optical transients (FBOTs) share some characteristics with supernova explosions of massive stars and with explosions that generate gamma-ray...

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