Tuesday, June 24, 2014

ALMA Sheds New Light on ‘Dark’ Gamma-ray Bursts

ALMA Sheds New Light on ‘Dark’ Gamma-ray Bursts:

An artist’s conception of the environment around GRB 020819B based on ALMA observations. Image Credit: NAOJ

An artist’s conception of the environment around GRB 020819B based on ALMA observations. Image Credit: NAOJ
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) represent the most powerful explosions in the cosmos, sending out as much energy in a matter of seconds as our Sun will give off during its entire 10-billion-year lifespan.

These powerful explosions are thought to be triggered when dying stars collapse into jet-spewing black holes. Yet no one has ever witnessed a GRB directly. Instead astronomers are left to study their fading light.

But some GRBs mysteriously seem to have no afterglow. Now, observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) are shedding light on these so-called dark bursts.(...)
Read the rest of ALMA Sheds New Light on ‘Dark’ Gamma-ray Bursts (530 words)


© Shannon Hall for Universe Today, 2014. |
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