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erronis

(16,744 posts)
Sun Jul 28, 2024, 08:18 AM Jul 2024

A Flash Like No Other: NASA's Fermi Detects Unique Energy Peak in Unprecedented Gamma-Ray Burst

https://scitechdaily.com/a-flash-like-no-other-nasas-fermi-detects-unique-energy-peak-in-unprecedented-gamma-ray-burst/


A jet of particles moving at nearly light speed emerges from a massive star in this artist’s concept. The star’s core ran out of fuel and collapsed into a black hole. Some of the matter swirling toward the black hole was redirected into dual jets firing in opposite directions. We see a gamma-ray burst when one of these jets happens to point directly at Earth. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab


Utilizing data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, researchers discovered a unique energy peak in the aftermath of the brightest Gamma-Ray burst ever seen, suggesting the annihilation of electrons and positrons. This finding provides new insights into the behavior of cosmic jets and the extreme conditions following such bursts.

In October 2022, astronomers were stunned by what was quickly dubbed the BOAT — the brightest-of-all-time gamma-ray burst (GRB). Now an international science team reports that data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope reveals a feature never seen before.
Unprecedented Spectral Feature Identified

“A few minutes after the BOAT erupted, Fermi’s Gamma-ray Burst Monitor recorded an unusual energy peak that caught our attention,” said lead researcher Maria Edvige Ravasio at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and affiliated with Brera Observatory, part of INAF (the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics) in Merate, Italy. “When I first saw that signal, it gave me goosebumps. Our analysis since then shows it to be the first high-confidence emission line ever seen in 50 years of studying GRBs.”


The accompanying video gives a great explanation of what the scientists think is happening in this extraordinary event. The gamma rays are traveling at 99.9% the speed of light.
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A Flash Like No Other: NASA's Fermi Detects Unique Energy Peak in Unprecedented Gamma-Ray Burst (Original Post) erronis Jul 2024 OP
That is a cool read ThreeNoSeep Jul 2024 #1
Um, wait, gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation, just like visible light. They travel at the speed of light. eppur_se_muova Jul 2024 #2
thank you. ret5hd Jul 2024 #4
link to vid. mopinko Jul 2024 #3

eppur_se_muova

(37,325 posts)
2. Um, wait, gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation, just like visible light. They travel at the speed of light.
Sun Jul 28, 2024, 09:57 AM
Jul 2024

The article states that the colliding electrons and positrons are traveling at 99.9% of c in our direction.

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