Explanation: Why would a gamma ray burst fade so slowly? This behavior, recorded last October, is considered a new clue into the cause of gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions known in the universe. The burst, first detected by the orbiting HETE satellite and later tracked by numerous ground-based telescopes, showed an unusually slow and tumultuous decay in visible light. Speculations on the cause of the unusual light curve include a blast wave striking a windy circumburst medium, a blast wave energetically refreshed by a faster outgoing shock, and non-uniformity in a fast moving jet. Pictured above is the massive Wolf-Rayet star WR124, a star itself undergoing a slow explosion by producing a very powerful but tumultuous wind. Popular candidate progenitor sources for GRBs include supernova or hypernova explosions from massive stars, possibly ones with similarities to Wolf-Rayet stars.

<<  Mart  >> Pn Vt Sr Cht Pt Sb Vs           1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31             1995   1996   1997 1998   1999   2000 2001   2002   2003 2004   2005   2006 2007   2008   2009 2010   2011   2012 2013   2014   2015 2016   2017   2018 2019   2020   2021 2022   2023   2024

Yanvar' Fevral' Mart Aprel' Mai Iyun' Iyul' Avgust Sentyabr' Oktyabr' Noyabr' Dekabr'

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.

Publikacii s klyuchevymi slovami: GRB - Wolf-Rayet star - gamma-vspleski - zvezdy Vol'fa-Raie Publikacii so slovami: GRB - Wolf-Rayet star - gamma-vspleski - zvezdy Vol'fa-Raie
Sm. takzhe: Sharpless 308: tumannost' Golova Del'fina Kol'cevaya tumannost' vokrug WR 134 Shlem Tora Kol'cevaya tumannost' WR 134 Sharpless 2-308: tumannost' Del'fin Zvezda Vol'fa-Raie WR 124 Sformirovannaya zvezdnym vetrom tumannost' RCW 58 Vse publikacii na tu zhe temu >>