Astronomy:GRB 051221A
GRB 051221A was a gamma ray burst (GRB) that was detected by NASA's Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission on December 21, 2005. A gamma-ray burst is a highly luminous flash of gamma rays, the most energetic form of electromagnetic radiation. The coordinates of the burst were α= 21h 54m 50.7s, δ=16° 53′ 31.9″, and it lasted about 1.4 seconds.[1] The same satellite discovered X-ray emission from the same object, and the GMOS Instrument on the Gemini Observatory discovered an afterglow in the visible spectrum. This was observed for the next ten days, allowing a redshift of Z = 0.5464 to be determined for the host galaxy.[2]
The gamma ray emission from this object is of the variety known as a short-hard burst. The energy emission is consistent with the model of a merger by compact objects. It was the most distant short-hard burst found to that date for which a redshift could be determined.[2] The X-ray light curve showed evidence of three distinct breaks, possibly representing a strong energy injection.[3] The energy may have been injected by a millisecond magnetar. That is, a rapidly rotating pulsar with a strong magnetic field, estimated at 1014 gauss (1010 teslas).[4]
References
- ↑ Soderberg, A. M. (2006). "The Afterglow, Energetics and Host Galaxy of the Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Burst 051221A". The Astrophysical Journal 650 (1): 261–271. doi:10.1086/506429. Bibcode: 2006ApJ...650..261S.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Soderberg, Alicia. "An In-Depth Study of the Most Distant Short-Hard Burst". Princeton University. http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~alicia/GRB051221a/. Retrieved 2009-04-16. [|permanent dead link|dead link}}]
- ↑ Burrows, David N. (2006). "Jet Breaks in Short Gamma-Ray Bursts. II. The Collimated Afterglow of GRB 051221A". The Astrophysical Journal 653 (1): 468–473. doi:10.1086/508740. Bibcode: 2006ApJ...653..468B.
- ↑ Fan, Yi-Zhong; Xu, Dong (2006). "The X-ray afterglow flat segment in short GRB 051221A: Energy injection from a millisecond magnetar?". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 372 (1): L19–L22. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2006.00217.x. Bibcode: 2006MNRAS.372L..19F.
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