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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Gamma-ray bursts are a relatively new discovery in space science. The first burst was discovered in the late 1960s. You might be wondering, what is a gamma-ray burst? These bursts are brief flashes of gamma-ray radiation that last from milliseconds to a few thousand seconds. The team that discovered this unique burst was led by Dr. Antonio Martin-Carrillo. He says these powerful events tend to happen in two ways. A star 40 times heavier than the Sun is stripped of its hydrogen and helium, or when two extremely dense objects orbit each other and merge into one. Previously, the longest-lasting gamma-ray burst was about 6 hours. Dr. Martin-Carrillo and his team have found one lasting nearly a full day, and it produced more than one burst! According to Dr. Martin-Carrillo, these bursts typically happen once, and that’s it. The team of astronomers has some theories as to why this multi-burst happened, including a “disruption event” involving a black hole. Dr. Martin-Carrillo says this happens when an object passes by, disrupts it, and the material gets around to eventually creating a black hole. On Earth and across the universe, there are plenty of gamma-ray sources, including radioactive decay and lightning strikes. Dr. Martin-Carrillo discovered this burst billions of light-years away while using the “Very Large Telescope” in Chile. Dr. Martin-Carrillo says that since this burst happened billions of light-years away that it was extremely powerful. This memory that he’s made with his team of astronomers is something he’ll never forget. Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.
