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ANU astronomers working at Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring
Observatories made a major breakthrough on the weekend, becoming the
first researchers in the world to pinpoint one of the brightest gamma
ray bursts ever seen.
The burst occurred approximately 2 billion light years away in the
constellation Leo, making it one of the closest ever recorded,
providing an exciting opportunity for researchers to find out what
causes gamma ray bursts, which are the most powerful explosions in the
universe.
Gamma ray bursts are most probably caused when a star implodes,
causing a massive burst of light and creating a black hole, ANU
Astronomer and PhD student Mr Paul Price said.
Two hours after the gamma ray burst, it was still more than a trillion
times more luminous than the sun,” Mr Price said.
It is very exciting that we have been able to find it using ANU
telescopes, even though we sustained so much damage during the January
bushfires.
I was in bed on Saturday night when I received a call from researchers
in the US saying the gamma ray burst had been detected by a NASA
satellite, giving us a rough area of sky in which to search for
it.
I immediately rang a fellow ANU Astronomer, Dr Bruce Peterson, who was
observing the stars at the ANU Siding Spring Observatory near
Coonabarabran, NSW, and he was able to lock onto it with our 40 inch
telescope.
We were first in the world to identify the gamma ray burst accurately
and although it was about 2 billion light years away, that is one of
the closest gamma ray bursts known. It is going to be a very nice
source of information to follow up and learn as much as we possibly
can about these cosmic explosions.”
Bruce and I also observed another, weaker gamma ray burst about 9
million light years away on Friday night. These observations are
providing a rich new source of information about some momentous events
in our universe.”
Gamma ray bursts usually fade away very quickly, but Mr Price and Dr
Peterson immediately alerted astronomers around the world who were
able to study the source with a variety of different telescopes,
vastly increasing the amount of data collected.
PICTURES OF THE GAMMA RAY BURST ARE AVAILABLE FROM ANU MEDIA OFFICE
Media contact: Tim Winkler, ANU Media Office on (02) 6125 5001 or 0416 249 231
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