Las Vegas City Wire

In 2021 puzzled scientists observed a long-duration gamma-ray burst (GRB) that had characteristics also found in short-duration bursts.

According to a news release shared by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, when it comes to the secrets of space, astronomers still have much to discover that could alter our perception of the universe. An multinational team of astrophysicists reports the finding of a singular cosmological gamma-ray burst (GRB) that defies accepted notions of how the intense cosmic explosions form in the Dec. 7 issue of the journal Nature. The researchers developed a new model, or source, for some specific sorts of GRBs in response to this "oddball" burst.

“This GRB includes two parts, a 13-second long hard spike and a 55-second softer extended emission,” UNLV alumnus and study corresponding author Bin-Bin Zhang said in the release. "The duration of the 13-second hard spike should have completely excluded this burst from the short GRB category.”

Zhang, who is currently with China's Nanjing University, is part of the multinational team of astrophysicists who reported on the GRB by utilizing a new model as to why it occurred.

Gamma ray bursts are the brightest and most dynamic explosions in space that lead to to the obliteration of stars or the impact of stellar debris. GRBs are typically classified as short-term and long-term. 

The difference between the two are long GRBs are produced when big stars die and short GRBs are produced when two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole crash.

Before the latest observation, GRBs were defined by these categories before NASA's Fermi Gamma ray Telescope and the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory observed the GRB on Dec. 11, 2021. The burst lasted roughly 70 seconds and had the specifications of a long GRB until scientists found several distinctions during their research.