Two Nature papers report the detection of the highest-energy photons from a GRB

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most violent explosions in the Universe suddenly appearing in the sky, about once per day. They are thought to result from the collapse of massive stars or the merging of neutron stars in distant galaxies.

The two papers published in Nature on 2019 November 21 report the first ever detection of very-high-energy photons from a GRB in the range of 0.2–1 teraelectronvolts, the highest energy photons measured from these objects. This ground-breaking achievement by the MAGIC telescopes provides critical new insight for understanding the physical processes at work in GRBs, which are still mysterious.

For more info about GRBs, afterglows, synchrotron emission, and the MAGIC telescopes, see the press release by MAGIC

Bookmark and Share

Tags:

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 24th, 2019 at 14:57 and is filed under Astronomy, Discovery, MAGIC, Observations, Publications, Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Comments are closed.