Explosive Neutron Star Merger Captured in Millimeter Light for the First Time

  • 📰 SciTechDaily1
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 41 sec. here
  • 2 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 20%
  • Publisher: 68%

United States News News

United States United States Latest News,United States United States Headlines

The flash is one of the most energetic short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed. For the first time, researchers have captured millimeter-wavelength light from an intense explosion brought on by the merger of a neutron star and another star using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Arra

The scientists also determined that this burst of light was one of the most powerful short-duration gamma-ray bursts ever observed, producing one of the most luminous afterglows ever recorded. The findings were recently published inThe brightest and most energetic explosions in the universe, gamma-ray bursts , may produce more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will produce in its entire lifetime. GRB 211106A belongs to a GRB subclass called short-duration gamma-ray bursts.

A short-duration GRB usually lasts only a few tenths of a second. Scientists then look for an afterglow, an emission of light caused by the interaction of the jets with the surrounding gas. Even still, they’re difficult to detect; only half-a-dozen short-duration GRBs have been detected at radio wavelengths, and until now none had been detected in millimeter wavelengths.

“Afterglow light is essential for figuring out which galaxy a burst comes from and for learning more about the burst itself. Initially, when only the X-ray counterpart had been discovered, astronomers thought that this burst might be coming from a nearby galaxy,” said Laskar, adding that a significant amount of dust in the area also obscured the object from detection in optical observations with the Hubble Space Telescope.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 84. in US

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines