X Ray Rings Expand from a Gamma Ray Burst
Explanation:
Why do
x-ray
rings appear to emanate from a gamma-ray burst?
The surprising answer has little to do with the explosion
itself but rather with light reflected off sheets of
dust-laden gas in our own
Milky Way Galaxy.
GRB 031203
was a tremendous explosion -- a
gamma-ray burst that occurred far across the universe
with radiation just arriving in our Solar System last December 3.
Since
GRBs can also emit copious amounts of x-rays,
a
bright
flash of x-rays likely arrived simultaneously with the
gamma-radiation.
In this case,
the x-rays bounced off
two slabs of cosmic
dust nearly 3500
light-years distant and created the
unusual reflections.
The longer path from the GRB, to the dust slab, to the
XMM-Newton telescope caused the x-ray
light echoes to arrive well after the GRB.
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.
