Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1995-01-08
Astrophys.J. 444 (1995) L53
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
uuencoded, gzip-ed postscript; 6 pages; submitted to ApJ Letters
Scientific paper
10.1086/187858
The observation by the BATSE instrument on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are distributed isotropically around the Earth but nonuniformly in distance has led to the widespread conclusion that GRBs are most likely to be at cosmological distances, making them the most luminous sources known in the Universe. If bursts arise from events that occur in normal galaxies, such as neutron star binary inspirals, then they will also occur in our Galaxy about every hundred thousand to million years. The gamma-ray flux at the Earth due to a Galactic GRB would far exceed that from even the largest solar flares. The absorption of this radiation in the atmosphere would substantially increase the stratospheric nitric oxide concentration through photodissociation of N$_2$, greatly reducing the ozone concentration for several years through NO$_x$ catalysis, with important biospheric effects due to increased solar ultraviolet flux. A nearby GRB may also leave traces in anomalous radionuclide abundances.
No associations
LandOfFree
Terrestrial Implications of Cosmological Gamma-Ray Burst Models does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Terrestrial Implications of Cosmological Gamma-Ray Burst Models, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Terrestrial Implications of Cosmological Gamma-Ray Burst Models will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-152672