Detection of a γ-ray burst of very long duration and very high energy
Detection of a γ-ray burst of very long duration and very high energy
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DOI：
10.1038/372652a0
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发表时间：
1994-12
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
K. Hurley;B. Dingus;B. Dingus;Reshmi Mukherjee;Reshmi Mukherjee;P. Sreekumar;P. Sreekumar;C. K
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
K. Hurley;B. Dingus;B. Dingus;Reshmi Mukherjee;Reshmi Mukherjee;P. Sreekumar;P. Sreekumar;C. K
尽管伽玛射线暴(γ-ray Burst，GRB)已经被发现20多年了，但其起源仍然是个谜。建议的范围从附近的碰撞彗星2到合并宇宙学距离的中子星3。除了X射线和γ射线之外，在波长上没有任何对应的射线，这给确定伽玛暴的来源带来了一个重大问题。虽然从原则上讲，爆发光子之间的能量分布以及它们的光曲线可以用来限制势源，但这在实践中已被证明是困难的。在这里，我们介绍了一次持续时间为90分钟的特别能量爆发的观测，其中包括探测到一个18GeV的光子。相比之下，典型的伽玛暴发出的光子能量范围在几keV到几十MeV之间，持续时间只有几十秒6，7。这种爆发的扩展性质让人们希望，在伽玛暴仍然活跃的时候，运行在其他波长的望远镜将有机会探测到它，从而对该源的身份和性质提供进一步的限制。
ALTHOUGH γ-ray bursts (GRBs) have been known for more than 20 years, their origin remains mysterious1. Suggestions have ranged from nearby colliding comets2to merging neutron stars at cosmological distances3. The lack of any counterpart at wavelengths other than X-rays and γ-rays has posed a major problem in identifying the source of GRBs4. Although in principle the distribution of energies among the burst photons, as well as their light curves, may be used to constrain the potential sources, this has proved difficult in practice5. Here we present the observation of a particularly energetic burst with a duration of 90 minutes, which includes the detection of an 18-GeV photon. For comparison, typical GRBs emit photons in the energy range between a few keV and a few tens of MeV, and last a few tens of seconds6,7. The extended nature of this burst holds out the hope that there will be opportunities for telescopes operating at other wavelengths to detect a GRB source while it is still active, thus providing further constraints on the source's identity and properties.