Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglow: Supernova Connection
Credit:
HST Image: D.W. Fox, J.S. Bloom, S.R. Kulkarni
(Caltech), et al.
What causes the mysterious
gamma-ray bursts?
Indicated in this
Hubble Space Telescope exposure of an otherwise
unremarkable field in the constellation
Crater, is the dwindling
optical afterglow of a gamma-ray burst first
detected
by the Beppo-SAX satellite on 2001 December 11.
The burst's host galaxy,
billions of light-years distant, is the
faint smudge extending above and to the left of the afterglow position.
After rapidly catching the
fading
x-ray light from the burst with
the orbiting XMM-Newton
observatory, astronomers are
now reporting
the telltale signatures of
elements
magnesium, silicon,
sulphur, argon, and calcium - material most likely found in an
expanding debris
cloud produced by the explosion of a massive star.
The exciting result
is evidence that the gamma-ray burst itself
is linked to a very energetic supernova
explosion
which may have
preceded the powerful
flash of gamma-rays by up to a few days.