A Common Origin for Cosmic Explosions

Artist's conception of the nearby gamma-ray burst of 29 March 2003 localized by NASA's HETE-2 satellite. Radio observations made with the Very Large Array, as well as the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the Ryle Telescope, have been combined with optical and X-ray data to show that this cosmic explosion had a nested jet structure (shown in the figure). The thin core of the jet produced weak gamma-rays while the thicker envelope produced copious radio waves. This information reveals that different types of cosmic explosions (gamma-ray bursts, X-ray flashes, and some type of supernovae) have the same amount of total energy and therefore share a common origin. In effect, different cosmic explosions are "beasts with different faces but the same body".

Legacy Astronomical Images

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Legacy Astronomical Image

GRB 030329

Edo Berger, et al.

Very Large Array (VLA)

ATCA

Ryle

OVRO

IRAM

BIMA

2003-06-04

continuum

X

3.6 cm

8.4 GHz

RA 10:44:50.000, Dec: 21:31:17.800 (J2000)

0.083333 x 0.083333 degrees

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Miscellaneous Series

Gamma-ray Bursters Unit