Kilonova Discovery Challenges our Understanding of Gamma-Ray Bursts
While studying the aftermath of a long gamma-ray burst (GRB), two independent teams of astronomers using a host of telescopes in space and on Earth, including the Gemini North telescope on Hawai‘i and the Gemini South telescope in Chile, have uncovered the unexpected hallmarks of a kilonova, the colossal explosion triggered by colliding neutron stars. This discovery challenges the prevailing theory that long GRBs exclusively come from supernovae, the end-of-life explosions of massive stars.
Credit:Images and Videos:
International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, Fermilab, M. Zamani, NASA/ESA, J. da Silva/Spaceengine, CI Lab, N. Bartmann
Music: Written and performed by STAN DART
About the Video
Id: | noirlab2228a |
Release date: | Dec. 7, 2022, 9 a.m. |
Related releases: | noirlab2228 |
Duration: | 01 m 22 s |
Frame rate: | 29.97 |