Scientists treated to views of a gamma- ray burst
Bright blast comes in second only to Big Bang
Amassive star dying in a titanic explosion in deep space allowed astronomers to capture the best views yet of a gammaray burst— one of the most energetic and explosive events in the universe.
Using a wide array of ground- and space- based telescopes, astronomers were able to put together one of the most detailed descriptions of a gamma- ray burst yet to date.
The amazingly short burst was named GRB160625B, and it was by sheer chance that Earth happened to lie within the beam.
Gamma- ray bursts are the universe’s brightest, most luminous explosions.
Astronomers believe that most of them occur when massive stars, up to 50 times the size of our sun, run out of nuclear fuel and collapse under their own weight.
As the star’s core collapses into a black hole, jets of material shoot outward at nearly the speed of light.
“If you ranked all the explosions in the universe based on their power, gammaray bursts would be right behind the Big Bang,” said Eleonora Troja, an astronomer at the University of Maryland and lead author of the study.
“In a matter of seconds, the process can emit as much energy as a star the size of our sun would in its entire lifetime.”
Gamma- ray bursts are also shortlived, lasting from a few milliseconds to only about aminute.
“Gamma- ray bursts occur at cosmological distances, with some dating back to the birth of the universe,” said Alexander Kutyrev, a co- author of the research paper and an astronomer at the University of Maryland.
“The events are unpredictable, and once the burst occurs, it’s gone,” he explained.
The study was published Wednesday in the peer- reviewed British journal Nature.