Binary Merger Of Gamma-Ray Burst with Kilonova

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Binary Merger Of Gamma-Ray Burst with Kilonova

A long Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) produced by a compact binary merger twinned with kilonova emissions was recently reported as a rare astronomical event.
The Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT), India's largest optical telescope, also confirmed this combination, which had never before been accepted or proven scientifically.
The GRB, designated as GRB211211A, lasted for more than 50 seconds.
Kilonovae are produced by the collision of two compact objects, such as binary neutron stars or neutron stars and black holes.

How do Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB) work?

GRBs are short, high-energy gamma radiations that are released when massive stars in the universe collapse or die. They are massive but incredibly bright.
They are the most potent cosmic events, and they can be seen from billions of light-years away.
A light-year, or 9.5 trillion kilometres, is the distance a light beam covers in one year on Earth.
Based on whether the event lasts longer than or less than two seconds, astronomers categorise them as long or short.

Long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs):

These bursts are seen in connection with the death of large stars.
A black hole is created when the core of a star many times more massive than the Sun abruptly collapses due to fuel exhaustion.
A black hole is a region in space where the matter has been compressed to such an extent that it has produced a gravitational field from which even light cannot escape.
Some of the matter that is swirling toward the black hole escapes as two strong jets that travel in opposite directions at nearly the speed of light.
Only when one of these jets happens to be almost directly pointed at Earth can astronomers detect a GRB.
Each jet pierces the star, sending out a pulse of gamma rays, the light with the highest energy, that can last for several minutes. The star that was damaged by the burst then rapidly expands as a supernova.
An exploding star that has reached the end of its life is known as a supernova.

Short Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRB):

Contrarily, a short GRB is created when two compact objects, like neutron stars, which are also created during stellar collapse, spiral inward over a period of billions of years and collide.
One of the potential evolutionary endpoints for high mass stars is a neutron star.

Source: The Indian Express

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