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Gamma-ray Bursts: Harvesting Knowledge From the Universe\u2019s Most Powerful Explosions<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The most powerful events in the known universe \u2013 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) \u2013 are short-lived outbursts of the highest-energy light. They can erupt with a quintillion (a 10 followed by 18 zeros) times the luminosity of our Sun. Now thought to announce the births of new black holes, they were discovered by accident.<\/p>\n
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<\/figure>The backstory takes us to 1963, when the U.S. Air Force launched the Vela satellites to detect gamma rays from banned nuclear weapons tests<\/a>. The United States had just signed a treaty with the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union to prohibit tests within Earth\u2019s atmosphere, and the Vela satellites ensured all parties\u2019 compliance. Instead, the satellites stumbled upon 16 gamma-ray events. By 1973, scientists could rule out that both Earth and the Sun were the sources of these brilliant eruptions. That\u2019s when astronomers at Los Alamos National Laboratory published the first paper announcing these bursts originate beyond our solar system. Scientists at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center quickly confirmed the results through an X-ray detector on the IMP 6 satellite. It would take another two decades and contributions from the Italian Space Agency\u2019s BeppoSax and NASA\u2019s Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory to show that these outbursts occur far beyond our Milky Way galaxy, are evenly distributed across the sky, and are extraordinarily powerful. The closest GRB on record occurred more than 100 million light-years away.<\/p>\n Though discovered by chance, GRBs have proven invaluable for today\u2019s researchers. These flashes of light are rich with insight on phenomena like the end of life of very massive stars or the formation of black holes in distant galaxies.<\/p>\n Still, there are plenty of scientific gems left to discover. In 2017, GRBs were first linked to gravitational waves \u2013 ripples in the fabric of space-time \u2013 steering us toward a better understanding of the how these events work.<\/p>\n Astronomers separate GRBs into two main classes: short (where the initial burst of gamma rays lasts less than two seconds) and long events (lasting two seconds or longer).<\/p>\n Shorter bursts also produce fewer gamma rays overall, which lead researchers to hypothesize that the two classes originated from different progenitor systems.<\/p>\n Astronomers now associate short bursts with the collision of either two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole, resulting in a black hole and a short-lived explosion. Short GRBs are sometimes followed by kilonovae, light produced by the radioactive decay of chemical elements. That decay generates even heavier elements, like gold, silver, and platinum.<\/p>\n Long bursts are linked to the explosive deaths of massive stars. When a high-mass star runs out of nuclear fuel, its core collapses and then rebounds, driving a shock wave outward through the star. Astronomers see this explosion as a supernova. The core may form a either a neutron star or a black hole.<\/p>\n In both classes, the newly born black hole beams jets in opposite directions. The jets, made of particles accelerated to near the speed of light, pierce through and eventually interact with the surrounding material, emitting gamma rays when they do.<\/p>\n This broad outline isn\u2019t the last word, though. The more GRBs astronomers study, the more likely they\u2019ll encounter events that challenge current classifications. \u00a0<\/p>\n In August 2020, NASA\u2019s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope tracked down a second-long burst named GRB 200826A<\/a>, over 6 billion light-years away. It should have fallen within the short-burst class, triggered by mergers of compact objects. However, other characteristics of this event \u2013 like the supernova it created \u2013 suggested it originated from the collapse of a massive star. Astronomers think this burst may have fizzled out before it could reach the duration typical of long bursts.<\/p>\n Fermi and NASA\u2019s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory captured its opposite number, GRB 211211A<\/a> in December 2021. Located a billion light-years away, the burst lasted for about a minute. While this makes it a long GRB, it was followed by a kilonova, which suggests it was triggered by a merger. Some researchers attribute this burst\u2019s oddities to a neutron star merging with a black hole partner.<\/p>\n As astronomers discover more bursts lasting several hours, there may still be a new class in the making: ultra-long GRBs. The energy created by the death of a high-mass star likely can\u2019t sustain a burst for this long, so scientists must look to different origins.<\/p>\n Some think ultra-long bursts occur from newborn magnetars \u2013 neutron stars with rapid rotation rates and magnetic fields a thousand times stronger than average. Others say this new class calls for the power of the universe\u2019s largest stellar residents, blue supergiants<\/a>. Researchers continue to explore ultra-long GRBs.<\/p>\n While gamma rays are the most energetic form of light, they certainly aren\u2019t the easiest to spot. Our eyes see only a narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Studying any light outside that range, like gamma rays, hinges tightly on the instruments our scientists and engineers develop. This need for technology, alongside GRBs\u2019 already fleeting nature, made bursts more difficult to study in early years.<\/p>\n GRB afterglows occur when material in the jets interact with surrounding gas.<\/p>\n Afterglows emit radio, infrared, optical, UV, X-ray, as well as gamma-ray light, which provides more data about the original burst. Afterglows also linger for hours to days (or even years) longer than their initial explosion, creating more opportunities for discovery.<\/p>\n Studying afterglows became key to deducing the driving forces behind different bursts. In long bursts, as the afterglow dims, scientists eventually see the source brighten again as the underlying supernova becomes detectable.<\/p>\n Although light is the universe\u2019s fastest traveler, it can\u2019t reach us instantaneously. By the time we detect a burst, millions to billions of years may have passed, allowing us to probe some of the early universe through distant afterglows.<\/p>\n Despite the expansive research conducted so far, our understanding of GRBs is far from complete. Each new discovery adds new facets to scientists\u2019 gamma-ray burst models.<\/p>\nThe Long and Short of GRBs<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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<\/figure>Afterglows Shedding New Light<\/h2>\n
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<\/figure>Bursting With Discovery<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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