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Extreme emission seen from γ-ray bursts

Cosmic explosions called γ-ray bursts are the most energetic bursting events in the Universe. Observations of extremely high-energy emission from two γ-ray bursts provide a new way to study these gigantic explosions.
  1. Bing Zhang

    1. Bing Zhang is in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154, USA.

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Astrophysical explosions known as γ-ray bursts (GRBs) can release in one second the amount of energy that the Sun will produce in its entire lifetime1. The emission from GRBs covers a broad stretch of the electromagnetic spectrum and occurs in two stages: the prompt-emission phase and the afterglow phase. The main emission mechanism is thought to be synchrotron radiation, whereby the gyration of energetic electrons around magnetic-field lines releases photons. Until now, emission from GRBs has been observed only at energies below 100 gigaelectronvolts (GeV). Three papers in this issue2–4 report observations of γ-rays that have energies above 100 GeV from two bright GRBs, dubbed GRB 190114C and GRB 180720B.

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Nature 575, 448-449 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03503-6

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