Kilonova Discovery Challenges our Understanding of Gamma-Ray Bursts | NOIRLab

Kilonova Discovery Challenges our Understanding of Gamma-Ray Bursts | NOIRLab

Episode#58 While studying the aftermath of a long gamma-ray burst (GRB), two independent teams of astronomers using a host of telescopes in space and on Earth, including the Gemini North telescope on Hawai‘i and the Gemini South telescope in Chile, have uncovered the unexpected hallmarks of a kilonova, the colossal explosion triggered by colliding neutron stars. This discovery challenges the prevailing theory that long GRBs exclusively come from supernovae, the end-of-life explosions of massive stars.

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)—the most energetic explosions in the Universe—come in two varieties, long and short. Long GRBs, which last a couple of seconds to one minute, form when a star at least 10 times the mass of our Sun explodes as a supernova. Short GRBs, which last less than two seconds, occur when two compact objects, like two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole, collide to form a kilonova. 

Credit: NOIRLab

Images and Videos:   

International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, Fermilab, M. Zamani, NASA/ESA, J. da Silva/Spaceengine, CI Lab, N. Bartmann  

Duration: 1 minute, 22 seconds

Release Date: Dec. 5, 2022

#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #NeutronStars #Kilonova #GRB #GammaRayBursts #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #NOIRLab #AURA #NSF #GeminiSouthTelescope #Chile #SouthAmerica  #GeminiNorthTelescope #Hawaii #UnitedStates #STEM #Education #HD #Video