Evidence of gamma-ray bursts emerging from the collisions of stars suggests a previously unknown trigger for stellar explosions.
, the Nordic Opticalpes were following up on a gamma-ray burst spotted by NASA’s Swift Observatory in 2019; affectionately named GRB 191019A, the long gamma-ray burst lasted for a little over a minute, and using Gemini South a team of astronomers made longer term observations of it.
They managed to determine the burst’s origin—about 100 light-years out from the core of an ancient galaxy—and based on that observation, determine the source of the burst.
. “By pinpointing its location to the center of a previously identified ancient galaxy, we had the first tantalizing evidence of a new pathway for stars to meet their demise.”—most stars massive enough to die in gamma-ray-producing supernovae in the region are long dead. The researchers sifted through the data for a supernova that would have accompanied the blast, but their search turned up zilch.But the galaxy’s core is filled with smaller stars and dense remnants of the massive stars.
According to the NOIRLab release, though regions near the galactic center are crowded with objects like those that caused the recently observed burst, the gas and dust spread throughout the galaxy may shroud such events from view. It’s an issue that may be helped by cutting-edge observatories like the Webb Space Telescope, whose infrared instruments canLike Webb, gamma-ray bursts are themselves having a moment.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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