New type of gamma ray rash discovered

2007/03/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Astronomia

Gamma ray eruptions are the most violent explosions in the universe. Astronomers are not very clear about what causes shock or explosion to cause these eruptions. They also don't know when and where they will happen. It can be emitted when a black hole is formed. Little by little, and NASA satellite Swift has discovered another type of gamma ray eruption with the characteristics of the two types of eruptions they knew so far.

Those who until now knew were divided into two groups, long and short, the lengths last more than two seconds and the shorts less than two seconds. Long gamma-ray eruptions, it is believed, occur in the collapse of massive stars, and short eruptions, apparently, when two neutron stars collide. In both processes black holes are formed, so they join the eruptions with the formation of black holes.

The new eruption discovered is characterized by being a hybrid between both groups. It lasts approximately one hundred seconds, so it should be part of the group of long gamma-ray eruptions. The problem is that there are no signs of massive stars exploding. On the contrary, the characteristics observed during the eruption indicate a behavior similar to small eruptions of gamma rays.