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γ-ray bursts

The supernova connection

Nature volume 423, pages 809–810 (2003)Cite this article

They are the most energetic events in the Universe, but the origin of γ-ray bursts has been hard to establish. Observations of a burst close to our Galaxy now show that supernovae are, as suspected, likely culprits.

The fog surrounding the identity of the progenitors of γ-ray bursts (GRBs) is beginning to lift, at least for the class of GRBs known as 'long' bursts. This is thanks to a series of observations of a burst that began on 29 March 2003, very close to our Galaxy. On pages 843, 844 and 847 of this issue, Uemura et al.1, Price et al.2 and Hjorth et al.3 reveal the evolution of this burst in unprecedented detail — and show that behind the GRB is the unmistakable signature of a supernova.

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Figure 1: A good match.

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  1. the Departments of Astronomy and Astrophysics and of Physics, Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, 16802, Pennsylvania, USA

    Peter Mészáros

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  1. Peter Mészáros
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Correspondence to Peter Mészáros.

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Mészáros, P. The supernova connection. Nature 423, 809–810 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/423809a

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