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Astrophysics

A twist in the tale of γ-ray bursts

Nature volume 523, pages 164–166 (2015)Cite this article

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An unusually long burst of γ-rays zapped Earth in December 2011, lasting 4 hours. The cause of this burst is now proposed to be a peculiar supernova produced by a spinning magnetic neutron star. See Letter p.189

The story of γ-ray bursts (GRBs) originates in nuclear-weapons monitoring during the cold war, and has been elaborated by subsequent technological developments and scientific detective work. GRBs were discovered by the Vela satellites launched in the late 1960s by the US Air Force. The spacecraft carried sensitive γ-ray detectors to monitor the Soviet Union's compliance with the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. No nuclear explosions on Earth were seen. Instead, mysterious γ-ray flashes were detected, randomly distributed on the sky1. On page 189 of this issue, Greiner et al.2 present data for a γ-ray flash that suggest an association with a rare type of supernova, similar to an unusual type of stellar explosion that has been recognized only in the past few years3.

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Figure 1: Energetics and duration of γ-ray bursts.

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  1. Stephen J. Smartt is at the Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK.,

    Stephen J. Smartt

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  1. Stephen J. Smartt
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Correspondence to Stephen J. Smartt.

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Smartt, S. A twist in the tale of γ-ray bursts. Nature 523, 164–166 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/523164b

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