For the first time, astronomers have detected one of the strongest flashes ever found in the sky, and it appeared as a result of a collision between a star and a “neutron star”. [جرم صغير لا يتخطى شعاعه 30 كيلومتراً ولكنه يتميّز بكثافة مادته وشدّة جاذبيته] As it is called, by radio astronomy [الإشعاعي] In the millimeter range of radio frequency wavelengths, providing an unprecedented view of one of the most violent astronomical events in the universe.
A research team led by Northwestern University in the US state of Illinois and Radboud University in the Netherlands used the Atacama Large Millimeter/ Submillimeter Array in Chile, referred to as the ALMA Radio Telescope for short, to capture The glow caused by what was called “GRB 211106A” (GRB 211106A), note that it is a short gamma-ray burst (Gamma-ray flux or GRB) was found to have originated in a galaxy 20 billion light-years away from Earth.
Commenting on the discovery, Wen Fei Fong, professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University, said, “This short burst of gamma rays was the first time we had attempted to observe such an event using ALMA.” It is very difficult to detect flares. After short bursts, it was amazing to catch this cosmic event shining so brightly.”
Dr. Fong is one of a large group of researchers who participated in a study on this observation process that will be published in an upcoming issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters, note that it is now available electronically at arxiv.org in the form of A draft that has not yet been peer-reviewed.
As a reminder, “gamma ray bursts” (GRBs) are powerful flashes of gamma rays emitted when massive stars at the end of their life cycle collapse into black holes, or merging, or colliding, dense neutron stars into a binary system of two stars, with Stars accompany them to form a black hole, a violent and intense cosmic collision believed to be responsible for the presence of most of the world’s heavy metals such as gold and plutonium.
In a statement he made in this regard, the astronomer at Radboud University and lead researcher in the scientific paper Tanmu Laskar said that “collisions occur as a result of radiation left by gravitational waves. [أمواج سريعة جداً غير مرئية تتموج في الفضاء وتنتقل بسرعة الضوء وهي قادرة على إحداث اضطراب عند مرورها في نسيج الزمكان وقد تنبأ بها آلبرت آينشتاين في نظريته النسبية العامة] It removes energy from the orbit of binary stars, causing the stars to rotate towards each other.” The researcher added, “The resulting explosion was accompanied by flows of radiation and gas moving at nearly the speed of light. When one of these radiations hits Earth, we detect a short pulse of ‘gamma rays’, or ‘short-duration’ gamma ray streams.
Short-duration “gamma-ray bursts” last only a fraction of a second, while their glow at longer, less energetic wavelengths of light persists for minutes or even days.
This was the case with GRP 211106A, whose glow was first detected in X-ray light by the Neil Geirels Swift Observatory. US space agency NASA, then observed in infrared light by the Hubble Space Telescope, and finally in millimeter radio light by ALMA. Only in the last observations made by “ALMA” it was found that the “gamma ray flux” came from distant galaxy.
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Dr. Laskar explained that “the observations made by the “Hubble Telescope” revealed an unchanging field of galaxies. The unparalleled sensitivity of the “ALMA matrix” allowed us to determine the location of the “gamma-ray flux” in this field more precisely, and it turned out “It’s in a non-faint galaxy outside our own, far, far away. That in turn means that this short-duration gamma-ray burst is more powerful than we first thought, making it one of the brightest and most energetic of all.”
Thanks to the wavelength in the millimeter range, the scientists also obtained a clearer picture of the structure and density of the environment surrounding the “gamma ray flux”, according to Dr. Fong. It also allowed the researchers to measure the apparent width of the radiation and gas flow that led to the explosion by only more than 15 degrees, which constitutes one of the The widest ranges ever measured.
The study highlights the importance of observing complex cosmic phenomena at multiple wavelengths using the most advanced instruments at hand, which now include the newly launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
Dr Laskar stated that “in the future, we can also use”James Webb Telescope “Space” to capture infrared glows and study their chemical composition. I am excited regarding these upcoming discoveries in our field.”
