The collision of two neutron stars generates a highly-energetic burst

Aug 5, 2013 19:21 GMT  ·  By

Astronomers have finally been able to solve the mystery of the origin of short-duration gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) by proving that these are caused by the collision of two neutron stars creating what has been called a kilonova.

Scientists have been observing these massive bursts of high-energy particles for decades, but their short duration, of only a few seconds, made it hard to identify the source.

But infrared observations made by Hubble confirmed that the cause of a recent burst was generated by the collision of two dense stellar objects, i.e. neutron stars.

Neutron stars, as their name suggests, are extremely dense objects where matter is so packed that atoms dissolve into neutrons. A neutron star is a few kilometers in diameter, yet can it weigh as much as a regular star.

NASA's Swift space telescope detected a bright gamma-ray burst on June 3. The burst only lasted for one-tenth of a second, but was 100 billion times brighter than the kilonova explosion that followed.

Hubble then looked for the source of the burst and found a faint red object visible in infrared. After a few days, the glow dissipated, indicating that it was a temporary burst of energy caused by a collision.