According to research published in the journal Nature on April 24, scientists have discovered gamma-ray bursts from the star in Messier 82, also known as M82.
This is the most distant gamma-ray burst observed from a star. The gamma rays released in just 1/10 of a second amount to the energy that the Sun emits over approximately 10,000 years.
Messier 82 Galaxy. (Photo: NASA)
Scientists have noted that to date, only two giant gamma-ray bursts have been observed in the Milky Way, occurring in 2004 and 1998, along with one burst in the Large Magellanic Cloud in 1979.
Astronomer Sandro Mereghetti from the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) in Milan, the lead author of the study, stated that these giant bursts are extremely rare events. The Milky Way contains at least 30 neutron stars, possibly more, but no giant bursts have been detected from them yet.
M82, nicknamed the “Cigar Galaxy” due to its elongated cigar-like shape when viewed edge-on, is located 12 million light-years away in the Ursa Major constellation. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year, equivalent to approximately 9.5 trillion kilometers.
Thus far, the giant gamma-ray burst from the neutron star in M82 is the farthest known, although it is not the most powerful. The strongest burst detected occurred in 2004.
