Cosmic electromagnetic bomb sheds light on the origins of γ-ray bursts

Thompson, Christopher

doi:10.1038/d41586-020-03657-8

NEWS AND VIEWS
13 January 2021

Cosmic electromagnetic bomb sheds light on the origins of γ-ray bursts

Celestial eruptions known as giant magnetar flares have been seen in our cosmic backyard, but were so bright they blinded observational instruments. The discovery of a more distant flare finally reveals details of these emissions.

Christopher Thompson⁰

Christopher Thompson
1. Christopher Thompson is at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H4, Canada.
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Much astronomical research in the twenty-first century is a study of impermanence. Telescopes probing the full range of the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to γ-rays, are unveiling an astonishing variety of brief, and frequently enigmatic, cataclysms. Our understanding of many types of cosmic explosion, such as supernovae and γ-ray bursts, has been limited by our inability to see their inner workings and by their rarity in our own Galaxy. Two papers¹^,² in this issue and another³ in Nature Astronomy lay the foundation for the study of an extragalactic population of flaring γ-ray sources whose relatives can be found nearby and have already been well studied in quiescence. These sources might also be connected to fast radio bursts⁴ — the hottest topic in astronomy.

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Nature 589, 199-200 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03657-8

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