GRBs are the most luminous and mysterious explosions in the universe. The blasts emit surges of gamma rays — the most powerful form of light — as well as X-rays, and they produce afterglows that can be observed at optical and radio energies. Swift, Fermi and other spacecraft detect an average of about one GRB each day.
Traditionally, astronomers have recognized two GRB types, short and long, based on the duration of the gamma-ray signal. Short bursts last two seconds or less and are thought to represent a merger of compact objects in a binary system, with the most likely suspects being neutron stars and black holes. Long GRBs may last anywhere from several seconds to several minutes, with typical durations falling between 20 and 50 seconds. These events are thought to be associated with the collapse of a star several times the sun's mass and the resulting birth of a new black hole.
Both scenarios give rise to powerful jets that propel matter at nearly the speed of light in opposite directions. As they interact with matter in and around the star, the jets produce a spike of high-energy light.
A detailed study of GRB 111209A, which erupted on Dec. 9, 2011, and continued to produce high-energy emission for an astonishing seven hours, making it by far the longest-duration GRB ever recorded.
Another event, GRB 101225A, exploded on Christmas Day in 2010 and produced high-energy emission for at least two hours. Subsequently nicknamed the \"Christmas burst,\" the event's distance was unknown, which led two teams to arrive at radically different physical interpretations. One group concluded the blast was caused by an asteroid or comet falling onto a neutron star within our own galaxy. Another team determined that the burst was the outcome of a merger event in an exotic binary system located some 3.5 billion light-years away.
Using the Gemini North Telescope in Hawaii, a team led by Andrew Levan at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, obtained a spectrum of the faint galaxy that hosted the Christmas burst. This enabled the scientists to identify emission lines of oxygen and hydrogen and determine how much these lines were displaced to lower energies compared to their appearance in a laboratory. This difference, known to astronomers as a redshift, places the burst some 7 billion light-years away.
Levan and his colleagues also examined 111209A and the more recent burst 121027A, which exploded on Oct. 27, 2012. All show similar X-ray, ultraviolet and optical emission and all arose from the central regions of compact galaxies that were actively forming stars. The astronomers conclude that all three GRBs constitute a hitherto unrecognized group of \"ultra-long\" bursts.
To account for the normal class of long GRBs, astronomers envision a star similar to the size sun's size but with many times its mass. The mass must be high enough for the star to undergo an energy crisis, with its core ultimately running out of fuel and collapsing under its own weight to form a black hole. Some of the matter falling onto the nascent black hole becomes redirected into powerful jets that drill through the star, creating the gamma-ray spike, but because this burst is short-lived, the star must be comparatively small.
Because ultra-long GRBs persist for periods up to 100 times greater than long GRBs, they require a stellar source of correspondingly greater physical size. Both groups suggest that the likely candidate is a supergiant, a star with about 20 times the sun's mass that still retains its deep hydrogen atmosphere, making it hundreds of times the sun's diameter.
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Music: Revelation of One
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Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, after B. Gendre (ASDC/INAF-OAR/ARTEMIS)", "items": [ { "id": 310014, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466661, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/Graph_FINAL_UnLabeled_2048.jpg", "filename": "Graph_FINAL_UnLabeled_2048.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Three recent GRBs (blue dots) emitted high-energy gamma-ray and X-ray light over time spans up to 100 times greater than typical long bursts and constitute a new ultra-long class. This plot compares the energy received and the event duration among different classes of transient high-energy events: long GRBs (green); the disruption of an asteroid or comet by a neutron star or stellar-mass black hole in our own galaxy, or the break-out of a supernova shock wave in another galaxy (orange); and the tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole in another galaxy (purple). Unlabeled. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, after B. Gendre (ASDC/INAF-OAR/ARTEMIS)", "width": 2048, "height": 1266, "pixels": 2592768 } }, { "id": 310013, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466660, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/Graph_FINAL_UnLabeled.jpg", "filename": "Graph_FINAL_UnLabeled.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Three recent GRBs (blue dots) emitted high-energy gamma-ray and X-ray light over time spans up to 100 times greater than typical long bursts and constitute a new ultra-long class. This plot compares the energy received and the event duration among different classes of transient high-energy events: long GRBs (green); the disruption of an asteroid or comet by a neutron star or stellar-mass black hole in our own galaxy, or the break-out of a supernova shock wave in another galaxy (orange); and the tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole in another galaxy (purple). Unlabeled. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, after B. Gendre (ASDC/INAF-OAR/ARTEMIS)", "width": 4096, "height": 2532, "pixels": 10371072 } }, { "id": 310015, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466662, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/Graph_FINAL_UnLabeled_web.jpg", "filename": "Graph_FINAL_UnLabeled_web.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Three recent GRBs (blue dots) emitted high-energy gamma-ray and X-ray light over time spans up to 100 times greater than typical long bursts and constitute a new ultra-long class. This plot compares the energy received and the event duration among different classes of transient high-energy events: long GRBs (green); the disruption of an asteroid or comet by a neutron star or stellar-mass black hole in our own galaxy, or the break-out of a supernova shock wave in another galaxy (orange); and the tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole in another galaxy (purple). Unlabeled. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, after B. Gendre (ASDC/INAF-OAR/ARTEMIS)", "width": 319, "height": 197, "pixels": 62843 } }, { "id": 310012, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466659, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/Graph_FINAL_UnLabeled.tif", "filename": "Graph_FINAL_UnLabeled.tif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Three recent GRBs (blue dots) emitted high-energy gamma-ray and X-ray light over time spans up to 100 times greater than typical long bursts and constitute a new ultra-long class. This plot compares the energy received and the event duration among different classes of transient high-energy events: long GRBs (green); the disruption of an asteroid or comet by a neutron star or stellar-mass black hole in our own galaxy, or the break-out of a supernova shock wave in another galaxy (orange); and the tidal disruption of a star by a supermassive black hole in another galaxy (purple). Unlabeled. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, after B. Gendre (ASDC/INAF-OAR/ARTEMIS)", "width": 4096, "height": 2532, "pixels": 10371072 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 346144, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11250/#media_group_346144", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "The number, duration and burst class for GRBs observed by Swift are shown in this plot. Colors link each GRB class to illustrations above the plot, which shows the estimated sizes of the source stars. For comparison, the yellow star is about 20 percent larger than our Sun.
Credit: Andrew Levan, Univ. of Warwick", "items": [ { "id": 310017, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466663, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/ultralong_grb_graph_small.jpg", "filename": "ultralong_grb_graph_small.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The number, duration and burst class for GRBs observed by Swift are shown in this plot. Colors link each GRB class to illustrations above the plot, which shows the estimated sizes of the source stars. For comparison, the yellow star is about 20 percent larger than our Sun. Credit: Andrew Levan, Univ. of Warwick", "width": 950, "height": 723, "pixels": 686850 } }, { "id": 310018, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466664, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/ultralong_grb_graph_small_web.png", "filename": "ultralong_grb_graph_small_web.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The number, duration and burst class for GRBs observed by Swift are shown in this plot. Colors link each GRB class to illustrations above the plot, which shows the estimated sizes of the source stars. For comparison, the yellow star is about 20 percent larger than our Sun. Credit: Andrew Levan, Univ. of Warwick", "width": 320, "height": 243, "pixels": 77760 } }, { "id": 310016, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466665, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/ultralong_grb_graph.tif", "filename": "ultralong_grb_graph.tif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The number, duration and burst class for GRBs observed by Swift are shown in this plot. Colors link each GRB class to illustrations above the plot, which shows the estimated sizes of the source stars. For comparison, the yellow star is about 20 percent larger than our Sun. Credit: Andrew Levan, Univ. of Warwick", "width": 2398, "height": 1825, "pixels": 4376350 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 346145, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11250/#media_group_346145", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "GRB 111209A exploded on Dec. 9, 2011. The blast produced high-energy emission for an astonishing seven hours, earning a record as the longest-duration GRB ever observed. This false-color image shows the event as captured by the X-ray Telescope aboard NASA's Swift satellite.
Credit: NASA/Swift/B. Gendre (ASDC/INAF-OAR/ARTEMIS)", "items": [ { "id": 310019, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466666, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/GRB_111209A_Swift.jpg", "filename": "GRB_111209A_Swift.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "GRB 111209A exploded on Dec. 9, 2011. The blast produced high-energy emission for an astonishing seven hours, earning a record as the longest-duration GRB ever observed. This false-color image shows the event as captured by the X-ray Telescope aboard NASA's Swift satellite. Credit: NASA/Swift/B. Gendre (ASDC/INAF-OAR/ARTEMIS)", "width": 2500, "height": 1408, "pixels": 3520000 } }, { "id": 310020, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466667, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/GRB_111209A_Swift_web.png", "filename": "GRB_111209A_Swift_web.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "GRB 111209A exploded on Dec. 9, 2011. The blast produced high-energy emission for an astonishing seven hours, earning a record as the longest-duration GRB ever observed. This false-color image shows the event as captured by the X-ray Telescope aboard NASA's Swift satellite. Credit: NASA/Swift/B. Gendre (ASDC/INAF-OAR/ARTEMIS)", "width": 320, "height": 180, "pixels": 57600 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 346146, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11250/#media_group_346146", "widget": "Single image", "title": "", "caption": "", "description": "Artist's impression of blue supergiant star during gamma-ray burst.
Credit: CNRS/C", "items": [ { "id": 310023, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466671, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/sursautGamma0413_RGB_half.jpg", "filename": "sursautGamma0413_RGB_half.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Artist's impression of blue supergiant star during gamma-ray burst.Credit: CNRS/C", "width": 1240, "height": 1240, "pixels": 1537600 } }, { "id": 310022, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466668, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/sursautGamma0413.jpg", "filename": "sursautGamma0413.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Artist's impression of blue supergiant star during gamma-ray burst.Credit: CNRS/C", "width": 2480, "height": 2480, "pixels": 6150400 } }, { "id": 310024, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466669, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/sursautGamma0413_web.png", "filename": "sursautGamma0413_web.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Artist's impression of blue supergiant star during gamma-ray burst.Credit: CNRS/C", "width": 320, "height": 320, "pixels": 102400 } }, { "id": 310021, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 466670, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011200/a011250/sursautGamma0413_RGB.tif", "filename": "sursautGamma0413_RGB.tif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Artist's impression of blue supergiant star during gamma-ray burst.Credit: CNRS/C", "width": 2480, "height": 2480, "pixels": 6150400 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 346147, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11250/#media_group_346147", "widget": "Basic text", "title": "For More Information", "caption": "", "description": "See [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/supergiant-stars.html](http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/supergiant-stars.html)", "items": [], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "gms", "funding_sources": [ "NASA Astrophysics" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Animator", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Video editor", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Scott Wiessinger", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Scientist", "people": [ { "name": "Bruce Gendre", "employer": "French National Center for Scientific Research" }, { "name": "Andrew Levan", "employer": "University of Warwick" } ] }, { "role": "Writer", "people": [ { "name": "Francis Reddy", "employer": "Syneren Technologies" } ] } ], "missions": [ "Swift" ], "series": [ "Astrophysics Features", "Astrophysics Stills", "Narrated Movies" ], "tapes": [ "Swift Blue Supergiant Stars Ultra-long GRB (Produced by: Robert Crippen)" ], "papers": [ "http://arxiv.org/abs/1212.2392", "http://arxiv.org/abs/1212.2392" ], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Universe" ], "keywords": [ "Ast", "Astrophysics", "Earth Science", "Edited Feature", "Gamma Ray", "Gamma Ray Burst", "HDTV", "Music", "Space", "Spectral/Engineering", "Star", "Supernova", "Swift" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 12077, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12077/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "The Christmas Burst", "description": "An unusual signal from a distant galaxy is thought to be the death of a supergiant star. || c-1024.jpg (1024x576) [157.1 KB] || c-1024_print.jpg (1024x576) [168.7 KB] || c-1024_searchweb.png (320x180) [97.0 KB] || c-1024_web.png (320x180) [97.0 KB] || c-1024_thm.png (80x40) [22.0 KB] || ", "release_date": "2015-12-24T11:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:49:00.856431-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 436454, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012000/a012077/c-1024_print.jpg", "filename": "c-1024_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "An unusual signal from a distant galaxy is thought to be the death of a supergiant star.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 10808, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10808/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "The Dual Personality of the 'Christmas Burst'", "description": "The Christmas burst, also known as GRB 101225A, was discovered in the constellation Andromeda by Swift's Burst Alert Telescope at 1:38 p.m. EST on Dec. 25, 2010. Two very different scenarios successfully reproduce features of this peculiar cosmic explosion. It was either caused by novel type of supernova located billions of light-years away or an unusual collision much closer to home, within our own galaxy. Common to both scenarios is the presence of a neutron star, the crushed core that forms when a star many times the sun's mass explodes. According to one science team, the burst occurred in an exotic binary system where a neutron star orbited a normal star that had just entered its red giant phase. The outer atmosphere of the giant expanded so much that it engulfed the neutron star, which resulted in both the ejection of the giant's atmosphere and rapid tightening of the neutron star's orbit. Once the two stars became wrapped in a common envelope of gas, the neutron star may have merged with the giant's core after just five orbits, or about 18 months. The end result of the merger was the birth of a black hole and the production of oppositely directed jets of particles moving at nearly the speed of light, which made the gamma rays, followed by a weak supernova. Based on this interpretation, the event took place about 5.5 billion light-years away, and the team has detected what may be a faint galaxy at the right location.Another team supports an alternative model that involves the tidal disruption of a large comet-like object and the ensuing crash of debris onto a neutron star located only about 10,000 light-years away. Gamma-ray emission occurred when debris fell onto the neutron star. Clumps of cometary material likely made a few orbits, with different clumps following different paths before settling into a disk around the neutron star. X-ray variations detected by Swift's X-Ray Telescope that lasted several hours may have resulted from late-arriving clumps that struck the neutron star as the disk formed. The NASA release is here. || ", "release_date": "2011-11-30T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:26.117792-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 484467, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010800/a010808/GRB_SN_Large_Still_1.jpg", "filename": "GRB_SN_Large_Still_1.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "These animations illustrate two wildly different explanations for GRB 101225A, better known as the \"Christmas burst.\" First, a solitary neutron star in our own galaxy shreds and accretes an approaching comet-like body. In the second, a neutron star is engulfed by, spirals into and merges with an evolved giant star in a distant galaxy.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 2560, "height": 1440, "pixels": 3686400 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }