Two newly recorded brilliant gamma-ray bursts observed from Earth have provided evidence for the existence of a mythical cosmic object that was once thought to be impossible.
This is a “cosmic monster” with super energy, potentially millions of times stronger than the energy output of our planet, weighing several times the mass of the Sun but only the size of a grapefruit: neutron star mergers.
For a long time, this has been a hypothetical object discussed by astronomers but was considered a form of “imaginary creature” of the universe due to its properties that defy every known physical law.
The gamma-ray bursts from the universe provide clear evidence of a “cosmic monster”, thought to exist only in legends – (Image: ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser)
However, through research conducted by a team of scientists from the University of Maryland, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and the Federal University of ABC in Brazil, two extremely powerful and short gamma-ray bursts have been direct evidence for the formation of these two “monsters.”
According to Space, these are two events designated as GRB 910711 and GRB 931101B, both discovered through the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) using NASA’s gamma-ray observatory, a telescope that ceased operations in the 1990s.
The events that ripped through the sky decades ago have now emerged in the data with rhythmic, brief flashes, which simulations indicate are the formation of a supermassive neutron star, with a mass about 2.5 to 4 times that of the Sun.
Such an entity seems impossible to exist due to factors that prevent it from collapsing and becoming immortal, while other factors suggest it must continuously move, stirring its magnetic poles and disappearing instantly.
All of this creates a chaotic dataset that seemingly makes it impossible to determine what type of cosmic monster it is, as it does not adhere to any known physical laws.
The new research, integrating several newer insights from recent decades, identifies that these must be neutron star mergers, resulting in a “hybrid” supermassive and super-strong neutron star, spinning very rapidly, losing mass, and oscillating extremely quickly before collapsing into a black hole surrounded by an accretion disk.
