Gamma Ray Burst, Supernova Bump
Credit & Copyright: S. Kulkarni, J. Bloom, P. Price,
Caltech -
NRAO GRB Collaboration
Explanation:
On the 21st of November 2001,
satellites
detected yet another
burst of gamma-rays from the cosmos.
While this flash of high-energy
photons lasted for less than a minute,
eager astronomers
have been following the
fading
optical light from the
location of the burst source ever since.
Seen above
in a series of Hubble Space Telescope images
recorded from December 4, 2001 to May 5, 2002 (13 through 161 days
after the burst), the fading transient lies to the right of a
fuzzy, distant galaxy,
likely home
to the gamma-ray burster.
Two constant point-like objects to the left of the galaxy are foreground
stars within our own
Milky Way.
The transient did not not simply fade away, though.
Observations from the
Hubble,
OGLE, and the large
Magellan telescope
in Chile indicate that it bumped up or brightened again days after
the burst in a convincing display
characteristic
of a supernova - the
death
explosion of a massive star.
These
results
add to the mounting
evidence that at least
some of the mysterious cosmic
gamma-ray
bursts are produced in the
violent event
which ends the lives of massive stars.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
