Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005eso..pres...32.&link_type=abstract
ESO Press Release, 12/2005
Other
Scientific paper
Short Gamma-Ray Burst Confirms Formation Scenario
An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a third short gamma-ray burst, associated with a nearby elliptical galaxy. The low level of star formation in such galaxies and the detection of a second long-lasting flare indicate that this gamma-ray burst is most likely the final scream of a neutron star as it is being devoured by a black hole.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), the most powerful type of explosion known in the Universe, come in two different flavours, long and short ones. Over the past few years, international efforts have shown that long gamma-ray bursts are linked with the ultimate explosion of massive stars (hypernovae; see e.g. ESO PR 16/03).
Very recently, the observations by different teams - including the GRACE and MISTICI collaborations that use ESO's telescopes - of the afterglows of two short gamma-ray bursts provided the first conclusive evidence that this class of objects originates most likely from the collision of compact objects, neutron stars or black holes (see ESO PR 26/05).
ESO PR Photo 39/05
ESO PR Photo 39/05
Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 050724 (FORS1/VLT)
[Preview - JPEG: 400 x 756 pix - 234k] [Normal - JPEG: 800 x 1512 pix - 700k] [Full Res - JPEG: 1768 x 3265 pix - 2.3M]
Caption of ESO PR Photo 39/05: (Left) VLT optical image taken on July 24, 12 hours after the burst, showing the position of the gamma-ray burst GRB 050724 as measured by the Swift X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and the Chandra X-ray satellite. The blue cross is the position of the optical afterglow. The burst positions are superimposed on a bright red galaxy at redshift z=0.258. (Right) Difference between two VLT images taken on July 24 and 29, clearly revealing the presence of the GRB.
On July 24, 2005, the NASA/PPARC/ASI Swift satellite detected another short gamma-ray burst, GRB 050724. Subsequent observations, including some with the ESO Very Large Telescope, allowed astronomers to precisely pinpoint the position of the object, lying about 13,000 light-years away from the centre of an elliptical galaxy that is located 3,000 million light-years away (redshift 0.258).
"From its characteristics, we infer that this galaxy contains only very old stars," says Guido Chincarini (INAF-Brera and Milan University, Italy), co-author of the paper presenting the results [1]. "This is similar to the host galaxy of the previous short GRB which could be precisely localised, GRB 050509B, and very different from host galaxies of long bursts."
These observations thereby confirm that the parent populations and consequently the mechanisms for short and long GRBs are different in significant ways. The most likely scenario for short GRBs is now the merger of two compact objects.
The observations also show this short burst has released between 100 and 1000 less energy than typical long GRBs. "The burst itself was followed after about 200-300 seconds by another, less-energetic flare," says Sergio Campana (INAF-Brera), co-author of the paper. "It is unlikely that this can be produced by the merger of two neutron stars. We therefore conclude that the most probable scenario for the origin of this burst is the collision of a neutron star with a black hole [2]."
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